Hope and Fear
by Jedi Rah
Summary: Sequel to Masks. Ginny is drawn into a plot to ensure the well-being of the wizarding world. That leaves her only one choice-seduce Harry Potter.
1. Planning for the Future

Part 1. Planning for the Future

"Miss Weasley!"

Ginny stopped dead in her tracks as the cold voice hit her like a blow. There was no doubt as to who was calling her. "Yes, Professor Snape," she answered softly.

"You will accompany me to my office at once," Snape hissed and turned to glide off down the hall.

Wondering what she was in trouble for, she meekly fell in step behind him.

It wasn't as if she was exactly an innocent; she was a Weasley after all. But her escapades tended to be more low key than the rest of her family, with the possible exception of Percy. How much trouble she was in depended on what had been discovered. There was the surveillance the Gryffindors would keep on Filch by a charm on the suits of armor, of course. Then there was the jinx she'd put on the mirror in the girl's bathroom closest to the Slytherin's dungeon to make the viewer look ten pounds heavier. While those were mischievous pranks, none of them seemed to merit this treatment.

She followed him into his dim office and stood in the center of the room.

In a swirl of black robes, the potions master seated himself behind his desk. "Sit down!" he barked, and folded his fingers before his face. "Where were you between the time you finished lunch and the beginning of your charms class yesterday?" he asked, glaring over his fingers.

Ginny thought for a moment and then a cold feeling crept into her stomach. She had been making out with Harry behind the student's greenhouse. "The library, I think. I don't remember," she stammered.

"And last Sunday after service? You seemed to disappear then too," he hissed.

She gulped and fingered the necklace Harry gave her. They had been behind Hagrid's hut while Hagrid had stayed late practicing with the choir as he always did. "In my dorm room, I guess," she tried to look innocent.

"In fact, during the past month there have been several occasions when you were nowhere to be found." Snape smiled thinly over his fingers

Despite her best efforts, fear was starting to show on her face as she shrugged in what she hoped looked like a confused way.

"Do you know what is most amazing about your periodic vanishing?" he asked in a smooth voice.

Ginny shook her head

"It would seem that during each of your mysterious disappearances Mr. Potter could not be found either." Snape's wicked smile revealed his self assurance.

"_So that's it," _she thought. _"he's after Harry, well he's not getting anything from me."_

"Sir," she stammered "I really don't know…"

"Do not insult my intelligence, girl!" he bellowed, suddenly inches from her face. "The staff is fully aware of your amorous rendezvous with the energetic Mr. Potter! We know about the acrobatic antics of your brother and our Head Girl as well!" He sat back down but didn't lower his voice. "Professor Dumbledore has knowledge of every tryst, lurid meeting, and vulgar get together in this school." His disdainful tone led Ginny to suspect that his anger was fuelled more by jealousy than propriety. "The headmaster's policy is to let these relationships take their natural course, and only interfere with those that he feels are destructive or dangerous."

Snape fell silent for a moment, giving Ginny a chance to consider what this meant for Harry and her. He reached for a standard spell book sitting on his desk and opened it to a marked page. Relief flooded her as she recognized the page with the contraceptive charm on it. _"This must be Snape's idea of a warning to be careful," _she thought _" I wonder if_ _Professor Dumbledore told him that it hasn't gone that far__." _

He folded his hands over the book and looked at her with a completely neutral expression on his face. "Tell me Miss Weasley, how much do you know about how Mr. Potter's family died?"

She blinked feeling like she had just walked in on a new conversation. "I … uh, know his parents were killed by You-Know-Who, and he's living with his aunt and uncle who are muggles."

"Aunt and uncle on his mother's side. Do you know why he is living with his mother's family?" he asked in a neutral tone.

She thought for a moment "Um.. no, not really" she answered, wondering where this could possibly be going.

"Mr. Potter comes from a very old and powerful line of wizards, some of the purest of pure blood ran through his father's veins." He paused for a moment "But that is not why the Dark Lord wants him dead. When he was attacked as a child Harry was given some very special protection by his mother. He also has within him a great power that little is known about. These abilities are part of him, they are in his very blood. I believe that henceforth all of his descendants will inherit these aptitudes."

"So that's why You-Know-Who has tried to kill him so often," Ginny answered, nodding her head, but still confused as to where this conversation was going.

Snape sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "My feelings toward Mr. Potter and his father are no secret, but even I must admit how important he is to the wizarding world," he said, averting his eyes.

Ginny felt her heart begin to quicken. This discussion didn't seem to be about school, but she had never seen Snape look so serious. He might not be out to get them after all but these vague references about Harry and Riddle were starting to worry her.

Snape stood and faced the small window near the ceiling. "The Dark Lord has many reasons, both magical and political, to fear any Potter still alive in the world," Snape couldn't hide the sympathy and fear that were in his voice. "Harry's line must not be allowed to die with him," he said in a harder tone.

A small hollow space opened up in Ginny's stomach. "D…die? Harry's not going to die," she stammered.

He turned his head to look at her and she could almost see pity in his eyes. "You are young Ginny, the young can never see death even when it is right behind them."

"But Professor Dumbledore, he still has hope. He said that if we…"

"Professor Dumbledore has an endless supply of hope and trust," he said in a sad voice. "But hope and trust do not always win the day."

Ginny felt the hollow space inside of her growing and there was a prickling sensation in the corner of her eyes. "Harry's not going to die," she said defiantly, trying to keep the emotion out of her voice.

"I have already had this conversation with the headmaster and he feels the same way you do." Snape lowered his head, and when he spoke again there was a note of compassion in his voice that Ginny had never heard from him before. "I have seen the forces arrayed against Harry. I do not see how even his skill and luck can save him. Even if we were to win, the Dark Lord would still find a way to kill him."

"You…you're wrong! Harry can do it!" she said, crying now.

Snape reached into his pocket and handed her a small white handkerchief and touched her shoulder. He then straightened himself and took a seat behind his desk. "Enough of this. I have called you here for a reason." He took hold of the spell book he opened earlier and turned it to Ginny. "Do you know this spell?"

"Yes," she said, wiping her eyes "It's the contraceptive charm. Professor McGonagall has already covered that with the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw girls last year…"

"No, not that one," he said, and pointed to the bottom of the page where the reverse spells were given "This one."

She stared at the page. She had never given that spell a second glance before. "The fertility charm?" she said, confused.

"Harry's line must not be allowed to die with him," he said, again looking at her meaningfully

Ginny put all the pieces together in her mind and thought surely she must have misunderstood him. "Are you asking me to …?"

"I am not asking you to do anything" he said flatly "I am merely informing you of the situation, and despite the headmaster's explicit instructions," he took a deep breath "suggesting a course of action."

A new shock hit her. Not only was he speaking to her against Professor Dumbledore's orders, but he was telling her he was doing it against orders.

"I am placing myself in your hands, Miss Weasley. Dismissal will be the least of my concerns if word of this conversation were to reach the headmaster." He let these words sink in before adding, "And all of that would be nothing compared to what would happen to me if Professor McGonagall were to find out."

Ginny looked up surprised by the statement and almost heard a hint of amusement in his voice. It made her feel a little better. "Sir, I'm only sixteen," she said trying to be reasonable. "I still have another year of school after this one. Shouldn't Harry and I wait just a little while?" The irony of having to argue this point with a professor added to the surreal feeling of their talk.

Snape inhaled deeply. He looked as if he didn't want to scare her again but that he had no choice. "Ginny, in less than a month Harry will be leaving the safety of this school for the last time. Soon after that he will begin his training as an Auror. The Dark Lord would have to be a fool to allow him to begin that training."

She felt the urge to start crying again but wiped her eyes in silence. "As for your education," he said firmly, "You have my guarantee that I will take whatever steps are necessary to ensure that you finish your time at Hogwarts."

Ginny sat stunned holding tight to her necklace and staring off into the corner. "My family will be very upset," she said finally.

"I have taught six of your brothers, I have no doubt that they will take care of you." Snape thought for a moment. "And if for some reason they can't, other arrangements have been made."

Snape opened the drawer of his desk and brought out a small box. He opened it and removed a silver ring with a simple black stone in it. Tiny writing that Ginny couldn't read covered the shining band. "This was given to me a long time ago by someone whose name you don't need to know." This earned a raised eyebrow from Ginny. "It has a powerful spell on it that should temporally protect you from most curses. Also, if you should ever feel the sudden need to get away from it all," he took the ring out of the box to show her "turn the stone a half circle, speak the name of the one you love the most and push the stone in." She stared at the ring with a mixture of wonder and fear. "When you do that, you and whoever you are carrying will be taken far away to a place I do not know. There you will be taken care of by someone of great power."

"Who?" she asked in bewilderment.

"I'm afraid I don't know that either, but it is someone that you can trust." He handed her the ring, and she took it carefully. "Don't worry, the stone can't be pressed until after it is turned."

"Why not just give this to Harry?" Ginny asked looking at the powerful artifact.

"Because it can only be used by a woman in love." He answered in the same tone of voice he used to describe potion ingredients.

She sat limply in the chair for a moment staring at the ring in her hand. "Sir, I… I can't…"

"A great responsibility is before you, Miss Weasley. I have every confidence that you will make the right choice," he said, reverting to his normal cold voice.

Ginny didn't miss the note of dismissal in his tone and stared at him a moment before rising to head to the door.

"Miss Weasley," he picked up the quill from the ink well in front of him and pointed to the phoenix necklace she had been holding during their conversation. "I don't believe jewelry of that type is allowed in the school dress code. That will be five points from Gryffindor," he said looking down.

She closed the door behind her, and he waited until she was gone to drop his quill and hold his head in his hands.

ooo

On a Saturday morning, most Hogwarts students would be happy, but Harry was about to scream.

For months now it had been either a crisis or a load of schoolwork clamoring for his time. He had never been a stranger to hard work, but this time it wasn't the intensity of the work that made things stressful. What really made it unbearable was that he no longer had Ron's help. He had recently lost most of Ron's assistance. The worst part of all was that he lost him to his other main helper, Hermione.

Harry realized it was stupid to be jealous of Hermione taking what had been his time with Ron. Feeling like the odd man out was new to him and he didn't like it. This change in the relationship with his two oldest friends came at a time when everything else in his life was shifting too.

On the bright side, Ron and Hermione weren't the only things that had changed in his life. As strange as it seemed to him, someone had chosen to get close to him in a completely new way. A smile crossed his face unwittingly as he thought about Ginny.

It was a new feeling to be part of a couple and it was wonderful. It wasn't just the making out he liked, although that was amazing, but just being with her felt good. In the two months they had dating he had gotten so close to her so fast that it scared him a little. Part of him wanted to go back to the way they had always been, and another part of him wanted to see how far this new relationship could go. Harry knew that it could be extremely dangerous for him and Ginny to pursue this relationship, but for now he didn't care. The truth was that it was already too late to go back to the way things had been. Ginny had become too much a part of him. When he was around her everything made sense. Harry found that he wanted to try for more of that feeling. He wasn't sure Ginny was ready for this, but he trusted her judgment and would accept whatever she had to say on the subject. _"For now at least. Unless she gets so mad that she never speaks to you again," _he thought with a shudder. Part of him did feel that he was going too fast, but everything in his world was going too fast, if he didn't keep up he might well never get the opportunity He would never forgive himself if he let the best thing in his life slip through his fingers, so he altered his course slightly to the Owlery.

"Hi Harry,"

"Hello Neville," Harry sighed.

"You busy?" Neville asked walking up. He was still wearing an earth stained robe, having come from the greenhouses.

"No, not really. I was just heading up to the Owlery, what do you need?" Harry responded, keeping the disappointment out of his voice.

"Luna and I are finished in Greenhouse Ten if you wanted to work on your Herbology project," Neville said.

"I guess I'd better, the last time I looked at my furry ferns they were getting a little brown," Harry sighed.

"They need brushing more often. I think they're lonely," Neville said, as they headed down the hall.

"Well, with you and Luna locked up in the student's greenhouse so often, I haven't had much of a chance." Harry gave Neville a knowing smile.

"I've been helping her seed her pouncing tiger lilies," Neville said, turning a little red while trying to sound innocent.

"That doesn't explain why you have as much dirt on the back of your robes as the front," Harry said slyly. An embarrassed glare was Neville's only response. "Well, if you and Luna are finished _seeding_, do you think you can give me a hand with the ferns?"

"Yea, sure," Neville said, a crooked grin breaking across his face.

ooo

As Ginny walked blindly down the hall a thousand fears and questions raced through her mind. Could Snape be right? It was obvious he thought he was. _"No, he's wrong! Harry is not going to die,"_ she thought defiantly. _"Maybe I'll lose him someday, but not now. We are still so young."_

She needed to talk to someone to get a sense if this was a real threat or just Snape being paranoid. The one she really wanted to talk to was Harry, but she knew better. Harry wouldn't want to worry her and would never agree to put her in that situation no matter how important it was. "_That means he can't know what I'm doing_," she realized and shuddered at how hard this would be.

She made the decision not to talk to him just in time. Looking up, she saw Harry coming down the hall ahead of her. Two emotions instantly filled her, the desire to run up to him and bury her head in his shoulder, and the urge to run and hide. The latter impulse won out. She ducked behind a suit of armor. She was afraid that he would see her hiding when Neville came to her rescue. He stopped Harry in the hall. They talked for a minute and then both headed toward the greenhouses. Forcing herself to breathe calmly, she realized that this couldn't wait much longer or she would break down and tell him everything.

If she couldn't talk to Harry, then the next best thing would be talking to Ron and Hermione. They were close to the front lines with him and would have a pretty good idea how much danger Harry was really in. She could also find out how bad it was without telling them what she was up to.

She hadn't seen them in a while and didn't want to wait until they turned up, so she began to search for them. A few hours later, after looking in all the usual places, Ginny was getting frustrated. Nearing desperation, she found Dean and Seamus who were, like most of the seventh years, studying in the library.

"Have either of you seen Ron?" she asked, sitting next to Seamus. "I can't find him anywhere."

A noise came from Dean that was either amusement or disgust; Ginny couldn't tell which.

"Sorry Ginny, we haven't seen much of Ron lately except in classes. You might have to wait until Monday," Seamus said, an odd expression on his face.

"Oh ...why is that?" she responded, wondering how dorm mates could not see much of each other.

"Because," Dean interrupted in an annoyed voice, "during the past two months he's had his face buried in either Hermione or a book."

Ginny's mouth dropped open at this. "Just a tad bit jealous, are we?" she asked in a sarcastic voice.

"Yes!" they responded together.

"I'm glad they finally got together and all … God knows it took long enough…," Seamus started to say.

"Well Seamus, you really only have yourself to blame." Ginny narrowed her eyes. "Did you really think Lavender and Parvati wouldn't talk to each other, they _are_ best friends."

Dean interrupted Ginny before she could dress Seamus down for his misdeed. "But Ron has taken the best study partner in the year and won't give her back. I'm trying to get through this mess and all I've got for help is him." He nodded toward Seamus.

"Thanks Dean, you've been a bottomless pit of support yourself," Seamus growled.

"And you, Dean," Ginny turned her attention to the other miscreant "when are you going to get off your bum and ask Padma out? It's not like we have forever." Her eyes went dark.

They both glared daggers at her. "All right then," Ginny said remembering how irritable Percy had been just before his NEWT's. "Just tell him that I need to talk to him when you see him tonight," she said, getting up.

"Uh… Ginny," Seamus said and waved her to come back. She sat back down next to him as he looked over his shoulder to see if anyone else could hear. "I'm not sure we can." Ginny gave him a puzzled look. "I don't know where they've gone," he said in a very low whisper. "but neither Ron or Hermione have slept in their beds in over two weeks. I'll probably see them in class, but we might not be able to talk."

Dean shrugged and said, "I think Harry must know where they are, try him."

Talking to Harry was what she wanted to talk to Ron about, so the sick feeling she had in Snape's office came back when she got up and left the library.

ooo

Next: Part 2. A Family Talk


	2. A Family Talk

Part 2: A Family Talk

Dark shadows broken by thin lines of sunlight fell across three silent figures in a small hotel room. Two large forms paced like caged animals while the third sat calmly in a large armchair near the window. He had his fingers folded gracefully before him as he stared patiently through the blinds to the street in front of the Three Broomsticks.

Suddenly three soft knocks came at the door. With a look from the seated figure, the two large shapes pulled out their wands, and went to the door. One hesitated, then gave two soft knocks in return. First one, then two more knocks answered. The large shadow thought for a moment, then knocked one more time.

"Crabbe, Goyle, open the damn door," a female voice hissed from the hall, "Or you'll be crawling around on your bellies and eating live rats for a month!"

A wicked smile crossed the face of the seated form as the door flew open. A shapely young girl slithered into the room and up to the seated figure. She was wearing an expertly cut dress that revealed all her best attributes, a fact that was made stunningly clear as she leaned over the armchair. Crabbe and Goyle shifted uncomfortably as they pretended to look out the window, but the seated form continued to stare impassively down into the street below.

"Draco," the young girl said softly, her voice caressing his ear. "Potter has gone to work in the greenhouses with Longbottom. It looks like they might be a while."

"There is no hurry, Pansy," Draco responded in a calm voice. "Sooner or later he will come to us. Time isn't our problem."

"I know," she purred and ran her hand along the inside of his thigh. "We have plenty of time."

For the first time Draco's eyes left the window and stared at Pansy. They hinted at no expression that she could read. They glowed cold and gray in the half light of the room, like two chunks of ice that had fallen from the glacier of his mind. For an age it seemed he stared into her face, seeing far more of her than that revealing dress showed.

"Crabbe, Goyle, get a table downstairs and keep watch," Draco said in a cold manner. "Let us know if you see anything."

Exchanging looks, Crabbe and Goyle wordlessly left the room.

Draco rose up and stood before her, his eyes still boring into hers. He reached up and brushed her cheek and let his fingers run down her neck to her breast. Shivers ran down her back as he slowly slid his hands down her body.

With a sudden move, he pulled Pansy to him and twisted her arm behind her back almost to the breaking point. She nearly swooned with pleasure as the delightful pain ran up her arm. Teeth tore into her neck and she grabbed his blond hair with her other hand to guide his mouth to hers.

"It was very careless of me to leave this assignment to those two," Draco growled in a voice more vicious than passionate. "Father doesn't allow failure." Pansy's skin tingled where his breath hit her skin, causing her body to tremble with anticipation. "You're going to be the death of me yet." With two swift motions of his free hand, Pansy's dress fell in tatters to the floor.

ooo

After hours brushing and tending his furry ferns, Harry headed to the Owlery. Not without trepidation, he sent Hedwig on her way with a hastily written letter. Later, he entered the Common Room and found Ginny sitting in one of the high backed armchairs. She sat staring into the fire, biting her lip and twisting her wand in a nervous manner. His smile faded as he walked over to her.

"Hi Ginny, are you busy tonight?" he asked, kissing her softly.

"Sort of, I need to talk to Ron. Dean and Seamus thought you might know where he is," she said, trying to smile.

Harry's green eyes narrowed with concern. "Is something wrong?"

"It's just family stuff, but I wanted to talk to him now," Ginny replied. Her attempt at a calm exterior might have fooled others, but to Harry it was obviously false.

With considerable effort Harry kept his face impassive. This wasn't like Ginny, unlike her brothers she didn't keep that many secrets from other students, especially him. _"Is she concerned about me becoming an Auror,"_ and then with a sinking feeling he thought _"or is she having second thoughts about us?"_

"Is it something I can help you with?" he asked, taking her hand.

She looked up at him with such longing that any thought of them breaking up left his mind and his heart rate began to return to normal. "I really do want to discuss it with you, but I have to check with Ron first," she sighed.

"Um… well OK," he said, still a little worried.

"But Ron and Hermione seemed to have disappeared, not even Dean and Seamus know where they are." She looked up at him and found a sly smile crossing his face. "Do y_ou_ know where they are?"

Harry's heart lightened a little. He might be able to cheer her up after all. "I was planning to show you later anyway." He smiled in spite of himself. He had been looking forward to sharing this with Ginny. "It's a really big secret."

Ginny looked a little better as curiosity overcame her. "What is?"

"I'll have to show you," he said, a twinkle in his eyes.

ooo

Harry led her not to some isolated corner of the grounds, but to the fourth floor corridor in the middle of the castle. A group of fifth year girls passed them, giving Harry a few sideways looks that made Ginny a little jealous. To her surprise, Harry did something she had never seen him do in all the time she had known him. He stopped in front of the mirror to check his tie and his hair. When the girls had rounded the corner Ginny was just about to make a comment about him preening for his fans when he suddenly touched three stones in the frame of the mirror. To her surprise, the glass quickly slid to one side. He hurried inside, pulling her with him. The glass slid shut and looking back, she saw that it was a one way mirror. They could see out, but no one could see in. Harry hesitated a moment, looking into the hallway to make sure no one had seen them come in.

Ginny looked around and found herself in a narrow passage lined with candle scones. "I must have passed this mirror a thousand times. I had no idea there was a secret door behind it."

"Not even Filch knows about it," he said triumphantly.

"Where does it lead?" she asked

"Well, once it led to Hogsmeade," he said as they made their way down the twisted and steeply sloping tunnel. "But there was a cave in quite a while back. Over the past year or so we've been modifying it for other uses." They reached the end of the passage "During the last couple of months we've really been working hard on it."

Ginny was looking at a large wooden door that completely blocked the tunnel. On the door was a small brass knocker and on the ground in front of it was an old doormat that read, "Welcome." Harry gave the knocker two quick raps and said, "It's Harry, are you busy?"

A moment later she heard Ron's voice as he opened the door "No, we were just going over our charms notes. We could… oh hello, Ginny."

Ginny couldn't believe what she saw as she looked behind her brother. Past the doorway the tunnel had been widened into a chamber. It looked only fifteen feet or so wide, but at least forty feet long. Running down the center of this long room were a number of wooden columns that stretched from floor to ceiling. A comfortable fire was blazing in a fireplace carved into the wall of the chamber. In front of the fireplace two old armchairs, one with a sleeping ginger cat in it, sat on a slightly tattered rug. Between the armchairs stood a small table with a chess board set up on it. In the back of the room lay a large four poster bed and a couple of night tables that looked like they might have come out of one of the dormitory rooms. In the front of the apartment Hermione sat behind a large wooden dining table piled high with books and notes, with four mismatched chairs around it.

"Ginny! Hi, come in," Hermione said, getting up and ushering her to the table. She had on a baggy pair of pants and Ron's maroon sweater and socks. "Let me make us some room." She picked up a large pile of books from the table and handed them to Ron who had just closed the door.

While Ron and Hermione cleared the table of their work, Ginny had a better look around. Displayed above the fireplace was a Gryffindor flag with crossed beater bats over it. A muggle picture of the Grangers and a wizard photo of the Weasley clan sat on the mantle place. On the opposite wall a elaborate wizard phonograph sat among a large pile of records. Ron and Hermione were putting their school books up on a bookshelf which was almost full already. Stretching lazily, Crookshanks hopped down from the armchair and strode over to rub against Ginny's leg.

"How about some tea?" Hermione asked, as she placed a vase with a bunch of flowers on the table.

"Great," Ginny stammered, not sure how to act in this strange situation.

Ron busied himself with a kettle while Hermione set the table with a set of chipped cups and saucers. Whenever they passed close to each other they would exchange a peck on the cheek or kiss on the head. Ginny didn't know whether to feel jealous or nauseous.

"You caught us a little unawares. All we have to go with it is some fruitcake, is that OK?" Ron asked.

"I love fruitcake, don't you?" Ginny turned to see Harry shaking with silent laughter, his hand over his mouth. She gave him a swat on the arm and finally asked, "All right what's going on, how did you get this place?"

"We call it the Uncommon Room, " Harry said, still chuckling, "and I told you it was a tunnel that led to Hogsmeade."

"Fred and George found out about it when they stole the Marauders Map from Filch," Ron put in, cutting the fruitcake.

"But not long after they found it, most of the tunnel caved in," Harry continued, helping himself to tea. "After I got the map, I checked it out and found that part of the tunnel was still there, it just didn't go anywhere."

"Yes, but this isn't a tunnel anymore, and the beams and the fireplace, you couldn't have done all that even with magic," Ginny said as a cup and saucer was handed to her.

Ron handed her a piece of cake and smiled. "Well, we didn't do it all at once, and we didn't do it alone."

"In my fifth year I asked Dobby to come down and see if he thought the tunnel could be cleared," Harry said, offering her the milk. "He said that the rest of the tunnel all the way to Hogsmeade was blocked with rubble, but that he could add beams, widen, and magically strengthen the rest of the passage. He and some of his free elf friends worked on it for over a year. Even I was surprised when I found out that they had carved a fireplace and connected the chimney to the ones for the castle. You know Dobby, he never does anything halfway."

"Wouldn't take a bronze knut for it, but Harry has gotten them out of a few jams with the Ministry since then, I think," Ron said over his tea cup. "And then we kind of forgot about it for a while. Until we told Hermione about it a couple of months ago."

"I thought that since we have our own secret chamber, why not get some good use out of it," Hermione said, saving the milk from Crookshanks, who had jumped into her lap. "I picked up some very nice secondhand things in town and transfigured them to smuggle them in here."

"I had to do a detention with Filch in the school storeroom once, so I knew where they keep the spare beds and tables," Ron crowed triumphantly.

"Ron, you stole one of the school's beds!" Ginny said, more shocked than surprised. Hermione cleared her throat and gave Ron a dark look.

"As I've already told Hermione, these are Hogwarts beds and they are still in Hogwarts castle. We haven't taken them anywhere," Ron said defensively.

"But they don't know where they are!" Hermione shot back.

"Which makes them misplaced, not stolen," Ron replied.

He set his tea cup down and put on the sly smile he saved just for her. "I could take it back if you really, really want me to," he purred, and ran his finger over her arm and traced a small circle on the inside of her elbow.

Hermione gazed up with a hungry look in her eyes and whispered "Stop it, we have company."

Ron took his hand back but still had that smile on his face.

"I hate to be the one to tell you, but it might not be as lost as you think," Ginny said, wanting to distract Ron.

"What do you mean?" Ron looked away from Hermione, serious again.

"I had a run in with Snape, and while telling me off for sneaking out with Harry, he let it slip that Professor Dumbledore knows about almost every little romantic get together in the school." Ron and Hermione looked at each other. "I don't think you have anything to worry about from Dumbledore, and I don't think he has told any of the other teachers or they would have closed this place up."

They all sat in silence for a moment until Ron spat, "Snape, how I would like to curse the living daylights out …" Hermione placed her hand on his arm.

"We need him Ron," Harry said with a grim look on his face. "So how much trouble are you and I in?"

"Oh, he, uh, took a few points and yelled a lot. That's all," she said, adding milk to her tea to avoid looking at him.

"He didn't give you detention or anything? Snape is going soft," Ron chuckled.

"No, not really," she said in a small voice. "Harry, I need to talk to Ron in private about some family issues." She bit her lower lip and looked at her tea cup. The room went silent.

Harry took her hand. "I knew something was wrong. Can I help?"

"I just need to talk it out with Ron," she replied, kissing his hand.

Harry wasn't satisfied with that answer, but knew better than to press the issue. "How about we get something to eat when you're done? I haven't had lunch yet," he replied, with a smile that probably didn't fool anyone. "Come on Hermione, let's go help Dean and Seamus before they borrow Fang to hunt you down."

Hermione, who had gotten out of the habit of hiding what she felt, still looked very concerned as she got up. "I'll see you later," she said, touching Ginny's arm.

As soon as the door closed Ron looked at Ginny. "What happened, what did Snape do?"

"Snape told me something and I've been so scared. It's about Harry so I couldn't talk to him," she hugged her brother, but was still unable to let her feelings out. "Oh Ron, I shouldn't be worrying you with this."

"What did he say?" Ron looked at her tenderly, trying to reassure her.

"Well, when I talked to him, it wasn't just to punish me, he also wanted to warn me," she gasped softly.

"Warn you about what?" he asked suddenly confused.

"He said he believes," her voice dropped to a whisper, "that no matter what we do, Harry is going to be killed very soon."

Ron grew immediately angry. "Well, that was really kind of him, wasn't it," he growled.

"No, Ron, don't," she said quickly. "He really thought he was doing the right thing."

Ron's face softened a little. "Ginny, you can't listen to Snape, you know how he is."

"You weren't there, it was really scary. He's worried about Harry, he's worried about what could happen after Harry is gone."

She closed her hands into fists to keep them from shaking. "I want you to forget that I am your sister, forget that I love Harry and tell me the truth. With everything that has been happening, is he …"

"Ginny I can't just…" he tried to say, but she cut him off.

"Please, Ron, you are his best friend, you're closer to him than anyone. You've been in on most of his dealings with Riddle since your first year. Who would know how close he has come to it if not you." Terror sized her as she tried to finish her sentence. "Honestly, is Harry likely to die?"

Ron got up and turned to look at the fire, running his fingers through his red hair. "Honestly, I don't know," he said taking a deep breath. Ginny looked away afraid of what she might hear next. "But I don't think so."

She realized that she hadn't been breathing, and finally exhaled all of her anxiety. "Really!"

"Yeah," he smiled at her. "If you had asked me in our fifth or sixth years, I might have said something different, I was really scared for him then, but now, I just don't see it happening." He sat back down and pulled his chair close to hers. "Think about all the times that he's nearly snuffed it, Quirrell, the Basilisk , Riddle, the dementors, the Ministry, the Deatheaters. Every time something goes wrong he has managed to pull something out of the hat."

"Like a thousand year old sword," she smiled.

"Exactly, how could anyone kill someone who can do that?" he smiled back at her. "At some point I just had to let all that worry go and just let what was going to happen, happen.

Relief flowed over and she gave a little laugh even as tears streamed down her cheeks. Ron laughed with her and reached up to wipe her tears away. "Silly Snape," she chuckled in an embarrassed way. "And silly me for listening to him."

"Let's just forget about it." Ron pulled her up and guided her to the door. "Now, how about we treat Harry and Hermione to a late lunch in town?"

"Treat them to lunch with what?" Ginny asked.

"Good point, we'll get them to treat us."

ooo

Next: Part 3 Assassin


	3. Assassins

Part 3. Assassin

ooo

The sun was shining, the sky was clear, and Ginny Weasley felt free again. She, Harry, Ron, and Hermione walked down the lane that led to Hogsmeade, laughing and talking about how nice it was that they were all together and away from school for a change.

They entered the Three Broomsticks, and were greeted by Madam Rosmerta. "Oh, there you are. I was afraid I wouldn't see you until after exams," she said showing them in. "What made you decide to come up for air?" Ron and Hermione blushed at this last statement.

"We've earned a treat, and besides it's not like I plan on working for a living once I leave school anyway," Ron said, as they sat at one of the tables.

"And how do you plan on doing that?" Hermione shot back, taking a menu from Madam Rosmerta.

"I'll get by on my good looks and animal magnetism, of course." Ron smoothed his hair.

"Yeah, I hear that Professor McGonagall is looking for a new boy toy, maybe you should apply there," Ginny said, with a sly look at him across the table.

"I was going to try for that job," Harry said in a fake disappointed voice.

"Would you like me to bring you some butter beer while you decide?" Madam Rosmerta said, shaking with laughter.

"Yes," they all said at once.

"Two for me," Ron added.

"Let me get your butter beer and warm up the grill," and Madam Rosmerta headed toward the bar.

ooo

Pansy lay in the half light of the hotel room and once again tried to decide who it was she hated so much. She did this a lot because as long as she could remember an ocean of hate had been swelling and ebbing inside of her. Sometimes it kept her from eating and often, like now, it wouldn't let her sleep. But it was elusive and she could never quite get a grasp on it.

It wasn't Potter and his people, she really didn't feel anything for them. They were like pieces on a chess board, nothing more than opponents. She didn't hate the muggles or the mudbloods either, although she knew she was supposed to. They just weren't important to her.

She thought of her parents, but it wasn't them. While she had been angry with them for almost seven years, and it had been a long time since she could say she loved them, she didn't hate them. There was no way they could have stopped Macnair from doing what he did to her just before she left for her first year at Hogwarts.

Macnair! Now that was someone she did hate. He had been her family's contact with the Deatheaters and sort of an old friend. At least she thought he was a friend until the night he ordered her parents out of their own house and came up to her room while she was bathing. Still, he wasn't the one she hated the most, and besides there was no use wasting hate on the dead.

She smiled and looked down at the sleeping form next to her. Draco, her dark prince. He knew all about what had happened and had given Macnair's death to her as a present the first time she slept with him. He had simply let the right word slip to the right person and Macnair found himself facing an army of Aurors. If she had to give a name to her feelings for Draco, it might be love. She could never hate him; well, maybe just a little. Just enough to keep the sex good.

"_Speaking of good sex,"_ she thought, and retrieved a healing potion she had stashed in the night table. It wouldn't do to go back to school covered with cuts and bruises, especially in the embarrassing places he left them. As she downed the potion she wondered once again who it was she hated so much.

Three soft knocks came from behind her. Before Pansy could look up, Draco had his wand pointed at the door. "Yes," he said in a clear emotionless voice that showed he was instantly awake.

"Potter, Granger, and two ofthe Weasleys just showed up at The Three Broomsticks," Crabbe's voice whispered.

Draco looked at her and smiled. "Wait downstairs and stay out of sight," Draco responded, getting out of bed and going over to the fireplace.

Pansy watched as he took a handful of dust from a container and threw it into the fireplace. Unabashed, he stood naked inthe firelight as it turned green and flared up. Emerald light and dark shadow played across his pale skin, throwing every line and curve of his muscular body into sharp relief.

Draco stood tall as he spoke. "Father, Potter has finally left the castle."

"Excellent," the voice of Lucius Malfoy responded. "You know what to do?"

"Yes, Father!" Draco tensed his muscles in impatience. Pansy inhaled sharply and realized that she hadn't been breathing.

"Report to me when our man is done," Lucius said, and the fire went out.

"Let's get ready," Draco whispered to her as he collected his clothes.

"Do you think the assassin will fail?" Pansy asked, as she transfigured her torn dress into a more suitable outfit.

"I certainly hope so," Draco answered with a satisfied smile. "Potter is mine."

ooo

Harry sat happily enjoying his lunch while watching Ron put on a show. Ron had been particularly jovial since they had left the castle. _"He's probably trying to cheer Ginny up,"_ Harry thought _"He seems to be doing a good job."_ Ron continued the story of how they met Aragog in their second year, a story he never thought Ron would find funny. Ginny buried her face in Harry's shoulder convulsing with laughter as he described his reaction to a hundred giant spiders coming at them. Harry was stroking her hair when something out the window caught his eye.

One of the school house-elves was walking with three disreputable looking goblins. At first glance there didn't seem to be anything wrong with the scene, except that the lead goblin kept looking around in a shifty way, and the house-elf kept wringing his tea towel as if he were nervous.

The goblins led the house-elf to a run down abandoned home with a for sale sign on it. The lead goblin opened the door with a key, let the house-elf in, and locked it again. The three goblins turned and went back down the street in the direction they came.

Harry looked out the window at the deserted house with its boarded up windows while Ron continued his story. No one else on the street seemed to have given it a second glance. It wasn't that unusual a scene but the house-elf didn't look happy to go in there.

Should he mention it to the others? Ginny was just cheering up and heaven knows he didn't want to get Hermione started on the subject of house-elves.

"I'll be back in a second," Harry said getting up. "Ron, don't eat my sandwich."

"Who, me?" Ron responded with mock indignation.

Harry headed for the loo, but slipped out the back door as soon as he was out of sight. He rounded the building and headed for the deserted house.

ooo

Pansy waited in a deserted alley, feeling a little nervous in spite of herself. Suddenly, three goblins came around the corner and trotted up to her. She pulled out her wand waved it over them and said "Gobless Finite." In an instant of blurred motion the three goblins became Draco, Crabbe and Goyle.

"Did it go all right?" Pansy asked, surprised with herself. She was genuinely worried for Draco.

"Yes, fine. Potter should be on his way to the house by now." Draco responded, but there was something thoughtful in his eyes.

"But something _is_ wrong?" Pansy persisted.

"There is something about this plan that doesn't make sense to me," Draco looked back toward the house and shook his head. "It doesn't matter now, it's out of our hands. Come on, let's get back to the room. We shouldn't be seen on the street."

ooo

Harry walked up to the deserted house and knocked. "Hello," he called, and tried the door. It was locked. He looked around, pulled out his wand, and whispered, "Alohomora." The door opened with a soft click.

The inside of the house was dark with thin lines of sunlight slipping through the cracks of boarded up windows. "It's all right, I just want to talk," he said, stepping over the threshold. As soon as Harry was inside, the door slammed shut. A bright circle of light burst out from the doorknob, then quickly spread across the interior surface of the whole room. He grabbed the door knob and pushed on the door, but it wouldn't turn and the door tingled with magical energy. A spell had sealed the room and there was no way out.

"No, Potter, I am afraid that it isn't all right." A voice Harry recognized came from behind him. He turned to see a young man standing there holding a wand on him.

"Marcus Flint," Harry said, keeping all emotion out of his voice.

Flint made a motion with his wand indicating to Harry to drop his. It rattled when it hit the wooden floor. "A great disguise wasn't it?" He tossed a tea towel to the floor with his free hand. "We knew you couldn't resist helping a house-elf," Flint gloated, but Harry wasn't listening. He was scanning the room with his eyes looking for something that could help him. Like most wizards, Flint considered the fight over once Harry lost his wand. Harry had been in too many duels to let a little thing like being wandless stop him. After a second of looking, he found what he needed. A loose support beam for the roof was just over Harry's head, and ran the length of the room to a point over Flint's head. It didn't look like it would take very much to bring it crashing down. Even though he hadn't been told to, Harry raised his hands until the beam was just above them.

Flint smiled at the sight, and uttered the phrase that Harry was getting very sick of hearing. "So much for the famous Harry Potter."

ooo

Ginny watched Ron gleefully finish Harry's sandwich. She had expected this and so had saved half of her own for Harry. Sick of looking at Ron's smug expression, Ginny glanced out the window, and was surprised to see Harry outside. _"Blast him, going off alone," _she thought as she saw him knock on the door.

"What is it?" Hermione asked when she and Ron saw the expression on Ginny's face. Ginny pointed out the window. Harry was opening the door of the house with his wand, and went inside.

The door slammed shut as soon as he went in. "Bloody hell!" Ron exclaimed, and the three of them leapt out of their chairs and sprinted to the door.

ooo

All Harry needed was a split second of distraction by Flint to make this an even fight again_. "Better keep him talking,"_ Harry thought weighing the odds. "What's the matter, Flint? Still mad you couldn't play quidditch for England?"

"What would you know about it?" Flint growled, losing his smile.

"I hear the London Wee Wizard Quidditch League is looking for a new coach, you should try there," Harry said in a calm voice.

"Shut up, Potter!" Flint snarled.

"Or maybe you could be a player." Harry smiled, watching Flint loose his focus.

Just then there came a pounding on the sealed door. "Harry!" Ginny's voice sounded.

Flint's eyes flew to the door and Harry seized the opportunity he had been waiting for. He leapt up, grabbed the beam and pulled down with all his weight. The beam cracked and fell, forcing Flint to jump out of the way. Harry dived on his wand and rolled behind a table for cover as a curse whizzed by his head.

Harry shot back with the Reductor Curse, but the enchanted wall Flint was hiding behind was too solid. He would have to find a way to get him out from behind cover, fortunately Flint's next move helped him there.

"Serpensortia," Flint cried, and a great black poisonous snake flew over the table toward Harry.

"Wingardium Leviosa," Harry shouted, and the snake hovered just above him. _"He's using snakes against me? How thick can you get?"_ Harry thought.

After speaking a few well chosen words to the snake, he gently let it down, as another curse from Flint blasted away part of the table. Harry fired back with a few curses he didn't really think would work, but kept Flint off balance.

Just then he heard Flint cry out and blast a curse at the hissing snake. It was the break Harry was waiting for. Looking out from behind the table, he saw that while still mostly covered behind the wall, Flint's weight was all on one foot as he shot at the quickly moving serpent. That foot, while also covered, stood on just one floorboard. "Reducio," Harry said, aiming at the floorboard. It quickly shrank to the size of a stick. Flint fell backward into the open room. "Expelliarmus!" he yelled at the now exposed target. Flint's wand flew out of his hand as he was thrown back into the fireplace.

"Harry," Ginny cried from outside the house.

"It's all right Ginny," Harry yelled. He caught Flint's wand as it sailed through the air, and aimed his own wand at the prone figure.

Blood flowed from Flint's head and arm as he lay in the fireplace, a look of utter astonishment on his face. "It can't be," he was mumbling. "The Dark Lord swore he had given me the power to destroy you."

"Flint, believing anything Voldemort has to say was probably the biggest mistake you ever made," Harry said, putting his opponent's wand in his belt.

Most of the fight seemed to have gone out of Flint as he wrapped his arms around his body. "I feel strange," he whispered, in a voice Harry barely heard.

"Ron, Hermione, I have everything under control here, but the house is magically sealed," Harry yelled, his wand still pointing at Flint who was starting to perspire. "I think we are going to need some help getting the door open."

"I'll go up to the castle and find Professor Dumbledore," Hermione called.

"It hurts," Flint shrieked, suddenly twitching in the ashes.

"We'll get Madam Pomfrey to have a look at you, but I think that's the least…," Harry stopped in mid sentence when he saw Flint's eyes. They were glowing red like two burning coals.

"What's happening to me?" Flint cried, his skin beginning to smolder. The blood that dripped from his wounds was bursting into flame.

"Damn it, Marcus, what did you let him do to you?" Harry exclaimed, but the answer was becoming clear. "Ron, Ginny, get away from the house!" He tried to disapparate but nothing happened. "Blast, they sealed it against that, too!" Harry muttered as he moved to the window trying to find a way out.

"Oh God, it burns," Flint moaned, his skin beginning to glow orange.

"Harry, no!" Ginny cried, pounding at the door.

"Ron, get her out of here!" Harry cried looking desperately around the room, his eyes fell on the discarded tea towel. He knew he had only seconds as he cast his spell. When he reached down to grab hold of the tea towel he looked at Flint and his heart sank into his stomach.

Hands and face burning now, Flint screamed, "Harry, please help me!"

Ginny fought with all her might as her brother pulled her away from the house. "Ron, let me go!"

"Ginny, no! We've got to.." Just then a blast blew them both off their feet. The wind was knocked out of Ginny as she and Ron landed in a heap. Debris fell all around them and they looked at the fire ball that had just been the house.

"Harry!" Ginny sobbed, breaking free of Ron's grip as he sank to the ground. Her tears shone in the firelight as she whispered, "No, please!"

"Ginny!" a voice came from behind them.

Ginny turned to see Harry covered in soot and throwing an old tea towel to the ground as he walked toward them. She ran up and collapsed into his arms, sobbing uncontrollably. "It's all right, I created a Portkey. The walls weren't shielded against that," he said, stroking her hair. "Hermione taught it to me, but it took me a minute to remember how to cast the spell." Ginny couldn't have answered if she wanted to, so she just held onto him as tight as she could.

Ron was still kneeling on the ground with an ashen look on his face. He held his chest with one hand and pointed his finger at Harry with the other. "You know, you could get into a lot of trouble, making a Portkey without a permit," he panted.

"They can bill me," Harry said, guiding Ginny back to The Three Broomsticks.

ooo

Draco, Pansy, Crabbe, and Goyle watched silently from their hotel room as Harry, Ginny, and Ron entered The Three Broomsticks. "It didn't work," Goyle grunted in a dejected tone. Pansy couldn't tell if that was an exclamation of disgust, or he was just catching on to that fact.

"No it didn't," Draco said thoughtfully. "And I'm not sure the Dark Lord expected it to." The others looked at him in surprise.

"What do you mean?" Crabbe asked bewildered.

"Flint couldn't beat Potter as a first year student. The idea that he could best him in a duel now is laughable."Draco considered for a moment. "And there was no way we could have sealed the house against Portkeys without very powerful magic. Magic that strong would have been noticed before we could have sprung our trap."

"Then why go to that much trouble?" Pansy asked, looking at Draco carefully.

Draco narrowed his eyes as he thought. "To get inside Potter's head maybe. To make him watch someone he once knew die horribly and be unable to save him." He smiled and looked at Pansy. "To wear him down and keep him off balance until someone like me is ready for him."

Pansy smiled back at him as she realized he must be right. She also knew that one day soon he would position himself to be the one to kill Harry Potter. Her dark prince was getting very clever indeed.

ooo

Ginny quietly sipped the tea Madam Rosmerta had brought her. She wasn't sure but she thought Harry might have had Madam Rosmerta slip a shot of Ogden's Old Firewhiskey into it the way her father sometimes did for her mother.

Lots of people were running around and shouting orders, mostly to do with putting out the fire. Harry answered any question he was asked, but never got up and kept his arm around Ginny, until Professor Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall and Professor Snape rushed in.

"Professor Dumbledore," Harry exclaimed, getting to his feet.

"Harry what has happened?" Dumbledore said, in a concerned voice.

"An assassin, Sir. We had a duel in that old house.Iwas lured inside and the house was sealed.I won the fight, butI had to create a Portkey to get out. Then the assassin, um…,Voldemort did something to him, Sir. Heblew up, taking the house with him. There was nothing I could do for him," Harry said in an even tone.

There was silence for a moment, until Professor McGonagall asked "Who was it?"

"Marcus Flint," he said, the first signs of emotion in his voice. Professor Dumbledore looked pained by this news.

"We will need to discuss this in more detail. Will you accompany me to my office?" Professor Dumbledore asked politely, even though it was more of an order.

"Of course, Sir," Harry responded in almost military fashion.

"Miss Weasley," Dumbledore said, and Ginny jumped. "They will have started dinner by now. As I will be keeping Mr. Potter for quite a while, I was wondering if you could have the kitchen prepare a plate for him and bring it to your common room."

"Um, yes sir," Ginny said, glad to have something to do.

"You should hurry, Miss Weasley," Snape added, his eyes full of meaning. "It's later than you think."

Next: Part 4, Plans and Preparations

P.S. I'd like to thank everyone who has reviewed this story. It's good to hear that people enjoy the effort I've made over a year's time.


	4. Plans and Preparations

Part 4. Plans and Preparations

The sky turned dark as twilight fell and all hope left Ginny. That little voice inside her that had been telling her that Snape was wrong, and Harry would be all right fell silent. She wandered through the castle toward the kitchen with her arms wrapped around herself. She would have to do it, and she could never let anyone know why. Yes, forget why. That was the only way she could make herself do it. Forget that this means the love of her life will probably be dead in just a few months. _"No, don't think about that!"_ she told herself.

Looking up, Ginny realized that she had arrived at the entrance to the kitchen. She reached up, tickled the pear, and turned the doorknob that appeared. The kitchen was a scene of controlled chaos as house elves bustled in every direction. The enticing aroma of freshly prepared food reminded Ginny of how little she had eaten that day.

"Good evening, Miss," came a voice near the stove. Dobby stepped forward and gave an elegant bow that Ginny recognized as one Harry sometimes used. "How may we be helping you tonight?"

"Harry is in Professor Dumbledore's office and will miss dinner," she said to the smiling house-elf. "Can you prepare a plate of food for him that I can bring up to the common room?" Before she could finish asking the question, a large platter piled with more food than Harry could possibly eat was assembled next to her.

"Will this do, Miss?" Dobby asked, placing the platter on a tray with utensils and a large pitcher of pumpkin juice.

"Thank you Dobby," she said. Suddenly, an idea occurred to her. "Um… Dobby, may I have a word in private?"

The rest of the kitchen staff gave them suspicious looks as Ginny and the house-elf stepped into a quiet corner. "You remember the private chamber you made for Harry and Ron?" Ginny asked in a soft voice.

"Yes, Miss. Dobby cleans up in there, when he can get in, of course." Dobby turned a little pink and shifted uncomfortably.

"Well, uh…," she said, trying to plow through her embarrassment. "Harry and I will be doing some, uh …work there next Friday night after exams, and I was wondering if we

could have a special dinner brought there." Ginny could feel her cheeks starting to redden.

"Special how, Miss?" he asked with a puzzled expression.

"Um… romantic special," she answered, in a small voice.

"A romantic dinner for Miss and Harry Potter?" Dobby exclaimed in a loud voice.

"Shhh, Dobby," Ginny hissed, looking around.

"It's all right Miss, they know all about the private dinners Dobby brings to young couples," the house-elf smiled.

"You've done this before?" Ginny asked, amazed.

"Oh yes, Miss. Dobby is always getting paid to bring lovely food to secret places." Dobby beamed, holding the lapel of his sweater.

"I see, well then you must know what to do," she said, somewhat shocked, but relieved to know how common this was.

"Oh, yes Miss." Dobby said producing a menu from his pocket and handing it to Ginny. "Now will you be wanting anything, specific?"

When Ginny looked at the menu she saw a list of fancy meals and spirits, each with an equally fancy price listed to one side. Across the top of the menu, written in George's handwriting, was "Dobby's Dine Out - Let us cater your next affair."

"Well, I don't have much pocket money, just a nice…"

Dobby snapped his fingers and the prices on the side of the page vanished. "For Harry Potter and Miss, it would be Dobby's pleasure," grinned the house-elf.

"Oh, Dobby no, I couldn't," she stammered.

"Now, now, Miss, hurt Dobby's feelings you will," he chimed indignantly. "Might I suggest a lovely May Flower wine with dinner, or a good Elf Hold brandy with dessert?"

"I wouldn't know what to …" Ginny started to say.

"Or!" Dobby's eyes lit up. "Just last week Dobby got hold of a few bottles of Fay Fairy Champagne," he said, bouncing up and down on his heals and wiggling his ears. "The very best."

"I ...I've never had Champagne before," she said, a giddy feeling stirring in her.

"Champagne it is then, Miss," the house-elf called before she could say anything else. He walked over to the tray he prepared earlier, rubbing his hands together. "I will pick a nice meal for you and have everything ready for eight next Friday night," he said, handing her the tray.

She reached down to take the tray from him and kissed him on the cheek when she did. "Thank you, Dobby," she whispered and walked out of the kitchen with the tray.

Entering the common room with the tray of food, Ginny felt better about what was happening. Now that she had started planing her get-together it was much easier to forget why she had to do it. She had a mission and she could concentrate on that; seduce Harry Potter.

Harry had a most infuriating streak of decency that Ginny would have to overcome if he was going to make wild careless love to her. She set the tray down on one of the tables and sat down in an sofa to wait for Harry. _"I should make the most of this since it might be my only chance."_ The thought popped into her mind before she could stop it and her stomach twisted. _"No! Don't think about that!"_ She slammed her fist into the couch in frustration.

"Hi, Ginny"

Ginny jumped and looked up to see Harry smiling down at her. "Hi, Harry. How did it go?" she said, forcing a smile. He had a tired expression on his face but he looked really glad to see her. He absentmindedly loosened the top buttons of his shirt as he tossed his robe and tie over the sofa.

"As well as can be expected," he sighed, sitting down next to her and taking off his glasses. "Professor Dumbledore always takes it badly when one of his ex-students dies, no matter which side they were on." He poured himself a glass of iced pumpkin juice and held it to his forehead and closed his eyes. Ginny watched as a bead of condensation slowly slid down the side of the glass before dropping to his chest. She started to smile as thoughts of what she was planning ran through her mind, but stopped when she saw the pained expression on his face.

Ginny reached around his neck and massaged the tension out of his shoulder muscles. "There was nothing you could have done," she said softly. "And he was trying to kill you."

"I just get tired of so much death, no matter who it is," he sighed, relaxing under Ginny's touch. "The Deatheaters are as much Riddle's victims as the muggles." Ginny ran her fingers up his neck and caressed his soft hair before pulling his head down and giving him a tender kiss.

"What was that for?" he asked, looking into her eyes.

"Just being you," she said tenderly.

Harry leaned his head forward and rested it on Ginny's shoulder. "I just hope that's enough," he sighed quietly.

ooo

Ron and Hermione sat in the two large arm chairs of the Uncommon Room as a cheerful fire crackled in the grate before them. Ron was reading out loud of a large text book as Hermione stared quietly into the flames. "The mass involved in self transfiguration is related to the following. The proper emphasis on the vowel sounds of the spell, as well as … Hermione?"

"What? Oh sorry Ron, vowel sounds and dimension of wand use," she said, looking up, flustered.

"That's probably the only time you've been distracted from studying when I wasn't the cause," he smiled slyly. "Is there someone else that I should know about?"

When his jibe didn't even change the anxious expression on Hermione's face he became concerned. "What's wrong, are you worried about Harry too?"

"No, well…yes, but no more than usual." She sighed in an offhand way, still gazing into the fire. "Ron, you know what happened in the village today…" She faced him with a scared look in her eyes. "Could you have gotten out of that?"

"Surprised in a magically sealed house with an exploding assassin," he intoned blankly before looking into her eyes with a grim expression. "No way." Hermione bit her hand to keep herself from crying and turned back to the fire. "But I'm not the boy who lived either, they wouldn't go to that much trouble for me," he said, kneeling before her chair and taking her hand.

"Ron," she whispered, her voice wavering. "You are the son of the Minister of Magic and a future Auror. You are not exactly a low profile target." She reached over and stroked his hair. "These last couple of weeks down here I'd managed to forget what was going on in the world. I can see now that I've been playing house, trying to pretend all of this wasn't so."

Ron moved forward and kissed her passionately pressing her head back into the soft cushion of the armchair. "This might not be our house, but I'm not pretending," he said softly to her. "Voldemort may be able to kill me but he can't take my life, because my life is the time I spend with you."

Hermione kissed him back and wrapped her arms around him as she slid off the chair to kneel next to him. "That doesn't change anything," she said slipping his shirt off him.

"I know," he said pulling off her sweater. "But it's all I can do."

ooo

The next morning Harry met Ginny in the common room to go down to breakfast together. He had been afraid that she would still be upset by what happened in Hogsmeade yesterday, but she seemed to be all right now. They entered the great hall and found Ron and Hermione sitting at the Gryffindor table.

"So, decided to rejoin the school?" Harry asked with a smirk.

"With Snape on the warpath we thought that maybe we should keep out of the Uncommon Room for a while." Ron said in a dejected tone. Harry had the distinct impression there was more to it than this, and that the idea had not been his.

"Probably a good idea, I heard him asking about you last night," Ginny said in a casual voice.

Ron and Hermione exchanged dark looks, but Harry noticed the color rising in Ginny's cheeks. Before Harry could wonder what this might mean, his thoughts were interrupted by the arrival of mail. He caught a glimpse of white feathers near the roof and suddenly panicked. _"Damn, that owl is fast,"_ he thought.

"I forgot something in my room, I'll be back in a second," he said quickly, and dashed out the door before Hedwig could sweep down to him. He waited in the entrance hall for a moment until an extremely annoyed hoot sounded from the main door. Hedwig swooped in and landed on his shoulder digging her talons into him a little more than was necessary. "Sorry Hedwig, but I couldn't let the others see this," he said, stroking her gleaming plumage. She hooted in an indulgent way as she dropped a package into his hand. Harry tore off the note attached to it and read quickly.

_Dear Harry_

_I received your instructions and have retrieved the item you requested. I ask you to think carefully about what you are doing. This will affect everything around you and you should be very careful before you proceed. I hope things work out the way you have planned, and please keep me informed. _

_Good luck,_

_Remus Lupin_

Harry folded up the letter and put it in his pocket. He looked at the package with its plain brown wrapping and string and felt his heart begin to beat faster. His hands began to untie the bindings when he thought _"No, it would be dangerous to open it here."_ He stuffed the package into his robes and set off toward his dorm room with Hedwig hooting on his shoulder.

ooo

Ginny watched Harry rush out the door with her eyes narrowed in suspicion. _"Now what is he up to?"_ Ginny wondered crossly. _"Maybe he found a way to join The Ridiculously Dangerous Auror Suicide Squad,"_ she thought bitterly. Horror struck at what just went through her mind she bit her lip hard and whispered to her self, "Stop thinking about it!"

To clear her mind Ginny started on the next part of her plan. She wanted to ask Parvati for help with her hair next Friday night. Parvati was acknowledged as the absolute best girl in the house when it came to hair, and Ginny wanted to look extra special for her date as much for her sake as Harry's. Ginny looked up and down the table but didn't see her.

"Do you know where Parvati is?" she asked Hermione.

"I think she said that she wanted to research Venus in the astronomy tower earlier this morning," Hermione answered still gazing at Ron. "It's probably set by now, but maybe she's still there."

Ginny hurried up the corridor leading to the astronomy tower. The tower seemed deserted which didn't surprise Ginny much as it was a Sunday morning. If she was quick she might just have enough time before service to talk to Parvati. She was in such a rush that she didn't think to knock as she burst through the door leading to the turret of the tower. "Parvati," she cried looking around. A pair of muffled yelps, and the sound of scuttling came from a shadowed corner out of sight of the door. "Parvati, it's Ginny," she said tentatively.

"G… Ginny?" a flushed Parvati said, coming around the corner of the tower. "What are you doing here?" Her skirt was rumpled and she was hastily buttoning her blouse.

"I…uh just wanted to know if I could get your help with my…" Ginny turned to see the other figure joining them. "Seamus," she said, amazed.

Parvati led Ginny away a few steps "Ginny, please don't tell Lavender about this. We both agreed we wouldn't speak to Seamus again, but things just sort of happened," she whispered with a sheepish expression.

"Um… I'll just be going then. See you later," Seamus said, winking at Parvati who beamed at him.

"Don't worry, my lips are sealed," she said casting a dubious look at Seamus who was tucking in his shirt as he walked toward the door.

"Thanks Ginny, what did you need my help with?" Parvati asked as she straightened her clothes.

"My hair. I have a kind of a date next Friday night after the exams and I'll need some help getting ready."

Ginny must have blushed a little as she said this because Parvati's eyes lit up and she began to giggle softly. "So little Chaser Ginny finally gets to handle the Quaffle," she teased.

"Parvati!" Ginny gasped, turning scarlet, and they both started giggling. "Don't let Harry know, it's kind of a surprise.

"Ohh.. an ambush! Have you thought about what you are going to wear?" Parvati cooed.

"Um.. no actually," Ginny said blankly.

"Lavender has some really sexy outfits she ordered from an ad in the Quibbler. I'm sure she would lend one to you," Parvati said

Ginny started to get excited again as she imagined what she could do with some really exciting clothes. "That would be great, thanks a lot," she smiled as they headed down the tower for service.

After dinner Ginny walked down the fifth floor corridor to look for Lavender rather than wait in the Common Room for her. She was sure she would run into Harry there and wouldn't be free to talk about her plans, but that wasn't the only reason she didn't want to see Harry. The truth was that the weight of this secret was wearing her down. She didn't know how much longer she could keep this to herself. The spectre of a life without Harry scared her much more than the idea of raising a child alone.

"You're thinking about death, aren't you?" a morose voice sounded from above her.

"What!" Ginny nearly jumped out of her skin. She looked up to see the gloomy visage of Moaning Myrtle hovering pearly white above her.

"Death. You were thinking very hard about it, I can always tell," Myrtle whined in her usual self pitying manner.

"Go away Myrtle, I wasn't thinking about death," Ginny lied trying to get a hold of herself. Talking about this with the most unpleasant ghost in the castle was the last thing she wanted to do.

"Yes, you were," Myrtle crowed in a obstinate way. "I can feel it in your soul. Who is going to die?"

"No one, I was just…worried about Harry is all," she stammered. "Now why don't you go back…"

"Oooh… Is Harry going to die?" Myrtle cried in a voice that was nothing less than jubilant.

Ginny's stomach twisted and she felt a surge of white hot anger course through her. Before she knew what she was doing her wand was pointing at Myrtle and she was yelling at the top of her lungs, "Harry isn't going to die, so you can't have him, you pathetic sack of slime! Now go away before I see if those undead curses really work!"

"Fine, chase me out of my bathroom, chase me out of the hallway I'll just try to find a place where no one has to endure my pathetic company!" Myrtle's howls echoed through the halls as she swept away.

Tears were streaming down her face as she put her wand away and ducked into an empty classroom. More than anything she wanted to find Harry, to let it all out to have him tell her everything was all right. She couldn't do that, so she sat down and tried to get a hold of her emotions. If she needed any more proof that she would have to do the seduction soon the fact that she let Moaning Myrtle get to her would have been it. She had finally calmed down and was just getting up to head back to the Common Room when something Myrtle said came back to her. _"Chase me out of my bathroom,"_ she thought. _"I don't think I've ever seen Myrtle outside of the second floor girls bathroom before. Who could have chased her away from there?" _Curiosity hurried Ginny along the corridors as she headed for the second floor.

ooo

Ron braced himself. The trials he was about to face would test the mettle of even the grimmest Auror. He would need all of his wits about him to come out of this unscathed. Taking a few deep breaths to clear his mind, he casually opened the door of his dormitory room.

Harry, Dean, and Neville looked up from their various activities to stare at him wordlessly as he entered the room for the first time in two weeks. Harry smiled and went back to reading his book, but Neville and Dean exchanged sly looks. Ron had almost reached the hangings of his four poster when Dean asked in a dry tone "So, are you just here to pick something up, or did she finally wise up and chuck you out?"

"You know Dean, it's going to be really hard for you to take your NEWT's with a kumquat growing out of your nose," Ron said as coolly as he could while his ears glowed red.

"Yeah, she chucked him out," Dean said to Neville. "Welcome back to Earth, Ron."

"Well, at least he beat the odds," Neville smiled. "Most people lost their bets after the third day."

"Yeah, I thought she was supposed to be the smartest girl in the year," Dean shrugged. "I guess that title is gone."

"Don't be jealous, Dean," Ron said, as he opened the night curtains of his bed. "With your stunning record with the lades, I'm sure everyone will be listening to what you have to say about my love life." He stiffly climbed up onto the counterpane. It seemed just the same as it had weeks ago except for the "This space for let" sign taped to the headboard. The handwriting looked suspiciously like Harry's. Ron took a moment to glare at the dark-haired figure shaking with laughter behind the Charms text book before he closed his curtains.

He changed into his pajamas and shifted under the fabric. They felt uncomfortable after he had been sleeping without them for so long. Ron lay there as one by one the lights of the room were extinguished. The now familiar feeling of longing came over him as he ran his hand over the side of the bed where he wished Hermione could be. No one to flirt with or tease. No one for him to solace or to be comforted by. And no stunningly beautiful woman to hold as he slept. He cursed silently to himself as he realized it was going to be a long night.

ooo

Ginny arrived on the second floor, unsure whether she was being cautious about an unusual occurrence, or just nosy. When she pushed open the bathroom door, she definitely heard moans, but not the kind that were usually associated with the melancholy spirit that lived here. _"Oh no!" _Ginny thought. Embarrassed beyond words she shut the door quickly and moved toward the hall.

Before Ginny could escape Lavender's head poked through a crack in the doorway. "Ginny," she whispered "Wait, I need to talk to you. Please wait!"

Ginny grimaced, but stopped. The light from the hall must have given her away. She waited for a minute until a rumpled and embarrassed Lavender emerged from the bathroom. "Are you crazy?" Ginny said in a quiet tone. "You didn't even lock the door."

"It's OK, no one ever goes in there," Lavender said quietly.

"Unless they find Moaning Myrtle wandering the halls and wonder why she isn't in her bathroom," Ginny said, smiling at her in a bemused way.

The door creaked again, and Seamus emerged slowly from the darkened bathroom. Ashen faced with a look of terror in his eyes, he hugged the wall like a man facing a firing squad.

Ginny glowered at him before turning back to Lavender.

"Oh, Moaning Myrtle, good point," Lavender said, after thinking for a second. "But Ginny, you can't tell Parvati! Please? It was my idea that we both dump Seamus." She seemed almost hysterical. "I meant to do it, but…"

"But things just sort of happened," Ginny finished the thought for her. "Sure, Lavender, you know I can keep a secret," Ginny sighed.

"Thanks!" Lavender released her tension with a sigh. "I owe you one."

"Good," Ginny said. "Because I need to ask a favor."

"I'll just…," Seamus started to say with a jaunty air until he caught the withering look from Ginny. "… be back in the common room," he finished in a small voice and slunk down the hall as fast as he dared.

Lavender smiled at him anyway before turning to Ginny "What do you need?" she said, still watching Seamus' bottom as he walked down the hall.

Ginny felt her face grow warm with embarrassment. "Well, I was planing a little romantic meeting myself."

Lavender looked back at her with a startled expression. "You and Harry?" she asked, beaming. Ginny nodded. "Oooh, the great and noble paladin of the scar is finally going to fall," Lavender cooed, bouncing on her heels.

"It's going to be kind of a surprise and I need a suitable outfit." Ginny smiled, getting caught up in the enthusiasm.

"That's even better. When is it?" Lavender asked conspiratorially

"Next Friday night when all the NEWT's are finished. Parvati is going to help me with my hair and Dobby's bringing food to our meeting place." Ginny checked off her plans on her fingers.

"Perfect. We can make an event out of getting you ready. Potter doesn't stand a chance."

ooo

"No!" Hermione said for what felt like the hundredth time, as she sat behind her dresser brushing her hair

"Come on, just a few details," Parvati pleaded as she sat next to her. "How does he kiss?"

"With his lips," Hermione replied dryly as the door opened behind them.

Lavender walked in and gasped in surprise. "Hermione, you're back."

"Deductive powers like that should come in handy during your Defense Against the Dark Arts exam," Hermione quipped, still brushing her hair.

"Our esteemed Head Girl is keeping mum about her exploits," Parvati hissed in annoyance, leaning back with her arms crossed.

"Nooo way!" Lavender gasped in total disbelief as she rushed up to sit on Hermione's other side. "You can't go off on a two week honeymoon and then come back like nothing happened."

Hermione glanced out of the corner of her eye, smiled, put down her hair brush and headed for bed.

Lavender and Parvati exchanged looks for a moment before Parvati sighed "I guess poor Ginny isn't going to get any advice from Hermione before her big night."

Hermione froze just as she was getting into bed. "It's a shame, it really sounds like she could use some guidance," Lavender purred with a wicked smile.

Hermione turned to face them. Ginny had been acting strange the past few days. If she were up to something dangerous it would be better to know about it now. Hermione weighed the cost of her embarrassment with the possible value of their information. "All right, what do you want to know?" she sighed in resignation. "But I can't tell you where we've been, that's not my secret to give."

"How did it happen?" Lavender gasped. "You and Ron have been dancing around each other for years."

Hermione sat on the edge of her bed facing her dorm mates. "Well Ron and I were on this date when I got a letter from Viktor …"

An hour or so later Lavender and Parvati were listening with their mouths open as Hermione finished her story. "…and we just slipped into the castle for breakfast."

"A Hogwarts Head Girl going off into the forest starkers except for a cloak. That's amazing!" Parvati gasped.

"Brilliant!" Lavender added.

Hermione smiled in spite of herself as the three of them headed for bed. "So, what's all this about Ginny?"

"Oh that," Lavender said in an offhand way "Ginny's going to jump Harry next week, not all that unexpected, to tell you the truth."

"There's another one that's been a long time coming," Parvati smiled, turning out the light. Her smile faded as she thought for a moment. "I guess she wants to catch him before he goes off to war. I can't say as I blame her with, you know,…everything."

"_Of course, Ginny would know that Harry is becoming an Auror." _Hermione thought. _"She's probably even more upset than I am. I should have been there for her." _A fresh wave of worry and guilt over came her as she settled into her bed.

Her bed. Even though this was the same bed she had slept in for seven years it now seemed huge to her. She bit her lower lip and turned to face the place where Ron was supposed to be. She ran her hand over the empty space and wondered how she had ever slept like this before. No warm body to cling to, no comforting sound of breathing, no certainty that this was where she belonged. Dread filled her as she curled into a sad and lonely ball. "_What if I am forced to sleep like this forever?" _

ooo

When Ginny got back to the common room she found Seamus alone by the fire. She sat down in the chair across from him and glared the way her mother taught her. "Rat!" she finally said, relishing the way the word rolled so easily off her tongue.

"I know, I know," he mumbled, looking at the hearth rug.

"Overgrown. Irish. Wharf. Rat," Ginny elaborated. "No, I take that back. Dead overgrown Irish wharf rat." Seamus grimaced as her words. "It's only a matter of time, you know."

"Yes, I know," Seamus held his head in his hands "They're both just so… I can't help it."

"Try!" Ginny hissed slowly, her breath lowering the temperature in the room twenty degrees. "It's not just you, your life is forfeit anyway. But Lavender and Parvati have been friends for seven years. They promised each other they wouldn't see you again. When this blows up, like you know it will, they could end up leaving school not speaking to each other."

The look of comprehension and concern on his face was unmistakable. "What should I do?" he said in a desperate voice.

"Fix it," Ginny said, getting up and walking toward the girls dormitory. "Soon."

ooo

Next: Part 5. Loose Ends


	5. Loose Ends

Part 5: Loose Ends

ooo

To an outside observer it might seem that a dark oppressive spell had been cast on Hogwarts Castle, but in reality it was just exam time. The school library had taken on an air of silent, feverish desperation. Sitting alone in a secluded corner Ginny was trying to read up for ideas for her seduction of Harry in between studying for her own exams. Not surprisingly the school library was providing little on this topic. She had already devoured every erotic romance novel and fashion magazine she could borrow from her classmates. She was now seeing what the library's limited number of biology books had to say. So far it wasn't much.

"Hi Ginny, can we talk for a second?"

Ginny jumped and closed her book. "Oh, hi Hermione, have a seat," she said in as casual a voice as she could. "I didn't think you'd take a break with two days of NEWT's left."

"Well, it may have taken seven years to learn it, but I've discovered there are some things more important than studying." Hermione said in a sad way. "And this is important."

"What's wrong?" Ginny asked, becoming concerned.

"I wanted to apologize," Hermione looked down at her hands.

"For what?" Ginny narrowed her eyes in confusion.

"I know this year has been really bad for you, what with Percy dying and your family having to live in a fortress since your dad became Minister of Magic," Hermione said, as if she had rehearsed this talk. "And lately Ron and I have been too wrapped up in each other to be there for you."

"You and my brother wrapped up in each other." Ginny forced a smile to lighten the mood. "Thanks for that mental image, Hermione."

"Really Ginny, I know how hard it's been." Hermione continued as if she hadn't heard the joke. "And dating the dark side's number one target can't be doing much for your peace of mind."

This conversation was coming dangerously close to topics she couldn't talk about and it was beginning to make her nervous. Ginny decided to try to change the subject. "It's been kind of bad, but I've had studying to help take my mind off things. Do you think you can help me later? These charms pre-test questions are really …"

"Ginny, I know about your plans for Friday night, and I think we should talk," Hermione said calmly.

Ginny just sat there stunned. "How?" she managed finally. "I've been very careful."

"Well, for one thing that's my copy of 'The Scarlet Witch's Consort' you borrowed from Padma," Hermione quipped. "And for another Dobby isn't that good at keeping a secret if you know how to prod him."

Annoyed that her secret plans had been so easily uncovered and a little ashamed of how she was planing to deceive Harry, Ginny felt immediately defensive. "OK, OK, so you know that I have less than honorable intentions toward our esteemed Mr. Potter," she snapped. "_You_ really aren't going to lecture me on morality, are you?"

Hermione stiffened in her chair. "No, I would never presume to tell you what you can or cannot do with your body, Ginny."

Ginny immediately regretted her jibe and the two of them sat not speaking for a minute. "I'm sorry," she said at last. "I think it's really good that you and Ron are getting together."

"It's all right, I understand that it must be a big change in your way of looking at us."

"Well, yes, but I can tell how happy you two are," Ginny replied quietly. "What was it you wanted to talk about then?"

"I know something's been bothering you and I just want to be there for you, like I should have been before." Hermione looked at Ginny again." You've been acting strange all week, and I think that's why you're rushing to get together with Harry. I can tell you're upset about the danger he's in, I feel the same way about Ron, but you don't have to deal with it alone."

Ginny's heart lightened a little from the load she'd been carrying, but she still couldn't tell Hermione why her plans could not fail. "Thank you Hermione, but I really do want this."

"All right, I just didn't want any bad feelings to ruin your evening," Hermione sighed.

"Well, maybe I am a little nervous, but I really don't want to wait. If we don't do it now, when can we? God knows nothing's going to happen once I get home, what with mum being so protective inside, and dragons all around the place on the outside." Ginny cringed at the idea of trying to find time alone with Harry once they got to the Burrow.

"Yes, I can see your point. It would be easier if he was getting his own place for the time off before he reports to Avalon."

"Exactly, it could be months before I can even kiss him without an audience."

Hermione wasn't completely satisfied with this explanation but it would be no good pushing it further. "Does Harry know what's coming?"

"Hasn't got a clue," Ginny smiled.

"No, of course not. They never do." Hermione thought back to the look on Ron's face when she met him in the forest.

"Um, Hermione," Ginny swallowed uncomfortably. "when you … with Ron … was it, you know …nice?"

"It's way better than nice," Hermione smiled with a far away look in her eyes. "But not just in the ways you think. It … well it's as if he has the part of me that's always been missing, and when we're together like that, I'm whole." She turned to face Ginny again. "Does that make sense?"

"I guess so," Ginny felt even more confused, but she didn't want to show it.

"The main thing is how you feel about each other. That's what makes it not just good, but profound."

"Well, there's no way it's not going to be profound." Ginny noticed the expression on Hermione's face and realized she'd said too much. "You have a test in an hour or so, you better get ready."

"OK, but if I can be of any more help, do you promise to call me?" Hermione asked.

"I promise," Ginny smiled as Hermione got up from the table.

ooo

If there is one skill every student who passes through Hogwarts masters, it's how to read and rush through a crowded hallway at the same time. Harry unconsciously weaved a path up a busy corridor on his way to the North Tower while rereading his divination report. The higher he went, the thinner the crowd got, and by the time he reached the silver ladder to Professor Trelawney's class, there was no one in sight.

"Hey, Harry," a strange voice called just as his hand touched one of the rungs of the ladder. He looked around, puzzled, as he lowered his report and let his hand rest on his wand. "Down here."

From the shadows a small dark creature carefully emerged. It looked like someone who had almost been transfigured into a rat. "It's me, Seamus."

"Seamus! What the bloody hell happened to you?" Harry kneeled down to get a better look at his dorm mate.

"Well, I did the right thing, sort of." Seamus replied looking around. "I need to get down to the hospital wing without anyone seeing me. If word of this gets out, I'll never live it down."

"What makes you think asking me for help will increase your chances of ever living this down?" Harry began to laugh quietly. "And you still haven't answered my question, what happened?"

"OK, OK," Seamus sighed. "You know how I was seeing Lavender and Parvati over the Easter holiday?"

"Yeah, and the whole thing blew up and neither one wanted to see you again," Harry finished for him.

"Well it's a small school and I ran into Parvati, and she wasn't nearly as mad as you might think. So we started talking and you know …" In rat form it was hard to tell, but he may have been blushing.

"So Lavender caught you and turned you into a rat," Harry said, raising his eyebrows.

"No, I bumped into Lavender the day after I ran into Parvati and, well, it's not my fault I was blessed with a double dose of Irish charm."

"So you started seeing both of them again but dropped the ball and they turned you into a rat?" Harry shook his head in disbelief.

"I did not drop the ball, I can handle girls better than that. But as your much better half pointed out, if they ever did find out, they would be madder at each other than me." Seamus began to clean his whiskers guiltily.

"That's true it could get pretty messy for everyone," Harry replied.

"So I couldn't just tell them the truth because they might wind up leaving school furious with each other." Seamus put his paws on his hips.

"Also if you just called it off, the first thing they would do is talk to each other, and they would still wind up angry," Harry said thoughtfully.

"Exactly, I care too much for them to allow that to happen" This brought a raised eyebrow from Harry. "It was a real problem for a while. Having to snog both of them at all hours of the day and night, not having any time to study, scared to death they might find out and get into a fight." Seamus twitched his paws nervously. "But then I had a brilliant idea. I decided to sacrifice my feelings for both of them in a way that they couldn't be mad at one another."

"This should be good," Harry mumbled.

"I took Lisa Turpin up on her standing invitation for a meaningless make out session, and arranged to meet her here under the silver ladder. I knew Lavender and Parvati would want to talk to Professor Trelawney during break and they could catch us," Seamus said triumphantly.

"I'm still waiting to hear the brilliant idea." Harry groaned, rubbing his forehead.

"It worked great, except for, …"

"Except for the part where they turned you into a rat." Harry smiled.

"Yea, well I never knew they were paying that much attention in Professor McGonagall's classes." Seamus held his tail in a dejected way.

"Well you certainly do have a problem," Harry made to climb the ladder again.

"That's not funny Harry! I have a test in two hours!" Seamus ran up to him.

"All right, I'll hand in my divination report later." Harry lowered his school bag so that Seamus could climb in.

"Thanks Harry," Seamus said as they headed down the hall.

ooo

_My Dearest Harry,_

_Congratulations on completing your exams. I would be very happy if you could join me for a private celebratory dinner in the Uncommon Room tonight at eight. I am looking forward to spending some time alone with you after having to give you up to the testers for a week._

_With much love,_

_Ginny_

Harry stared down at the letter, still holding the flower he had found it wrapped around. The rose was on his pillow when he had come to change after his last exam. He planned to release some of his pent-up anxiety by going through a hard workout in the Room of Requirement. All he wanted to do now was find Ginny and properly thank her for her kind invitation.

Unfortunately it was still only a little after noon and she was probably arranging things for their dinner. A few practice duels would still be a good idea, especially since he hadn't had time to train since his tests started. It wouldn't do to let himself slow down.

"Hey Harry, have you seen Hermione?" Ron asked from behind him.

"Not since our last exam." Harry noticed Ron looking at the flower in his hand and immediately wanted to distract him. "I'm on my way down to the Room of Requirement for some practice. Do you want to join me?"

"Well, that's not the kind of workout I was hoping for, but if I can't find Hermione, I guess I'll meet you there later." Ron glanced at Harry's invitation and smiled as he left the room.

Harry placed the flower on his night table and opened his trunk to find some fresh clothes. While looking for his favorite fighting outfit he came across the small black box he had been hiding for a week. _"Yes, if I'm going to use this, it needs to be tonight,"_ he thought. Happy, but more than a little nervous about his plans, he changed into his tight fitting black clothes.

ooo

Harry moved purposefully toward the seventh floor. A broad smile crossed his face as he remembered the scent of the flower and the person who gave it to him. He was so distracted that he almost missed Dean hunched in one of the deep set windows on the fifth floor near the stairs. Even in his distracted state Harry could tell that Dean was upset about something and trying to hide it.

"Hey Dean, is everything OK?" Harry asked in as neutral a tone as he could.

"Not really, haven't you been reading the Prophet lately?" Dean answered in a flat tone as he stared into space.

"What happened?" Harry felt his insides harden.

"My house exploded last week and my cousin is in the hospital." Dean pulled a letter out of his pocket. "I just found out, my parents didn't want to write me about it while I was taking my tests."

"I thought Professor Dumbledore moved your family to a safe house along with the Grangers and the Browns!" Harry's eyes widened with surprise.

"He did, but someone forgot to tell my extended family not to go to the house. My cousin came to visit and when she opened the door, the whole place went up." Dean glanced at his letter as he spoke. "It could have been worse. She didn't actually go in so she should recover, and they can blame the explosion on a gas leak or something."

"Well that's good news at least," Harry sighed.

"She plays football you know," he said softly. "She's the one who took me to my first West Ham game."

"It'll be OK. If he has to, Mr. Weasley will send a healer from St. Mungo's to help with anything the doctors can't handle."

"Yea, you're right," Dean got to his feet with a dark expression. "This is it though. I don't know if my NEWT's are good enough, but I'm going to at least apply for Auror training."

"Well you should have plenty of company. Ron and I have already been accepted."

"Really? I thought so. Seamus and Neville are making some noise about applying too," Dean smiled weakly. "I don't know if everyone will be accepted, though."

"It'll be just like old times," Harry made a point of smiling back despite the anger building inside him. "You know, I was just heading to the Room of Requirement for some dueling practice. Do you want to come along?"

"Yeah," Dean whispered still looking at his letter. The tall young man looked almost impossibly small. "Yeah!" he repeated in a forceful tone, crunching the paper in his hand and rising to his full height. "Let me get changed and I'll meet you there."

ooo

Ginny sat naked on the edge of the swimming pool size tub in the prefect's bathroom. She glanced at the door one more time to make sure it was locked. Trembling slightly, despite the large fire that kept the room quite warm, she reached for her school bag near the tub. Retrieving a spell book and her wand she let the book fall open to a marked page. She had been studying this for over a week and was confident she could cast the spell properly, but she still hesitated. _"This is it,"_ she thought as she steeled herself. "Fertillus," she called twisting her wand in a complicated motion that ended with it pointing at her abdomen, just below her navel. A pink light flew from the wand tip into her. "Oh …" she breathed as something warm flowed around inside of her for a long moment. Breathing hard, she stood up carefully and rubbed her stomach. Across the bathroom she could see herself looking pale and frightened in the mirror. _"It's done,"_ she thought _"It's real. It's all real. The baby, Riddle,_ _the_ _assassins, and Harry's going to …_"Her wand fell to the tile floor with an echoing clatter as she clasped a hand to her mouth to keep herself from sobbing. "Stop it!" she growled through gritted teeth. Breathing hard, she straightened her back and took a moment to mastered her feelings. "You can't fall apart yet," she told her reflection. "You have a hero to seduce."

ooo

Harry fumed as he marched quickly down the seventh floor hallway to the Room of Requirement. _"More pain, more sadness, and for what! Just to satisfy Riddle's already bloated ego," _he thought as he flew up the stairs three at a time. Reaching the seventh floor landing, he strode purposefully down the hall. "Dueling club, four on one!" he exclaimed in a commanding voice as he passed the tapestry of Barnabus the Barmy. A doorway appeared just as he reached the wall. He wrenched open the door and entered.

The room was completely dark except for five circles lit from above by a unseen lights. Four of the circles lay along the four compass points while the fifth was positioned in the direct center. Harry pulled off his shirt and angrily tossed it aside as he took his place in the middle circle. Four hooded figures stepped from the shadows into the four compass points surrounding him. _"Don't think"_ he told himself as he bowed and raised his wand to the ready position. He took a deep breath, exhaling all of his anger and resentment. Calmly he let his mind gently slip out of gear and allowed his reflexes to take over.

North was the first to strike, a very obvious move that couldn't be anything but a feint. Harry easily dodged the spell as he spun around to face the true threat from South. "Protego," he shouted, sending the spell in the general direction of East and turned to face West who was the only one in a position to strike at him in that second. Sure enough, West had just sent a stunner his way, which he blocked easily.

For several minutes he went on this way, blocking or dodging spell after spell, waiting for an opening. Finally East fired a spell at him that he was able to deflect directly toward South. "Protego, Stupefy," he shouted. South sidestepped the deflected spell but walked into the path of Harry's stunner. The dark form collapsed and disappeared in a cloud of smoke. At last Harry was able to see all of his adversaries at once.

With his muscles taunt, he waited for his remaining opponents to make a move. West launched a powerful spell that Harry just managed to deflect. Suddenly North and East simultaneously fired at him, forcing him to fall to the ground and let the spells pass over him. North's hex went flying harmlessly into the darkness but West couldn't react fast enough to avoid East's spell. The artificial opponent was blown backward by the force of the curse and disintegrated before he could reach the ground.

"Petrificus Totalus," Harry shouted, still laying on his back. East's arms and legs snapped together and the ridged figure disappeared like a column of smoke from a candle. Harry tumbled backward to his feet as a spell from North hit the floor where he had just been. Sweat rolling down his bare chest, he stared at his remaining enemy with narrowed eyes. He easily deflected the spells cast at him waiting for an opening. "Tarantallegra, Expelliarmus," Harry shouted, when North miscalculated his position. Avoiding the curse, North couldn't sidestep the disarming spell. Its wand flew out of its hand and into the darkness. The hooded figure stood motionless waiting for Harry to end the fight. He gave a little bow to his defeated foe before aiming his wand and shouting, "Stupefy!" As his last opponent turned to smoke, the lights over the four compass points went out leaving Harry standing in a lone column of light.

"Son of a bitch!" came a voice out of the darkness.

"Damn!" said another.

"I don't believe it!" mumbled a third.

"Who's there" Harry pointed his wand in the direction of the voices. "Lumos!"

Ron, Dean, Neville and Seamus stood in the darkness by the door. Ron was the only one who didn't have an astonished look on his face. He had seen Harry fight before and had long since stopped trying to figure out how he did it.

"I have trouble with just one of those things," Seamus gasped with amazement.

"It's not that big a deal," Harry quickly retrieved his shirt and put it on.

"Harry, there are Aurors in my family. I've seen them practice before, but I've never seen anything like that," Neville said moving into the light.

"This is more like it," Dean clasped Harry on the shoulder. "Before I may have wanted to be an Auror out of desperation," he smiled savagely. "Now I just want to be there when we start paying them back."

ooo

"Rowan of Blackmoor landed in the hidden glade. The black plumage of his war griffin glistened in the moonlight. He dismounted in one swift motion of his lean body. Katharine turned to watch him walk across the glen, her auburn locks and red gossamer robes flowing in the warm breeze. Every move of his muscular form spoke of hidden power, as did the bulging size of his codpiece. She kept her back straight and her face impassive. She would give no hint of the lust that was boiling inside of her. 'So you have come to Scarlet Hall despite the orders of my uncle.' Katharine drawled with as much disdain as she could manage. He stopped only inches from her and placed his hands on his firm hips. At this distance she could taste the pungent smell of him and she felt a stab of longing between her thighs. 'No decree or magic wall can keep me from what is mine,' Rowan growled."

Hermione paused to take a sip of water and turn the page.

"Bulging codpiece, ugh," Ginny said, wrapped in one of the huge towels from the prefect's bathroom. She was seated at the dresser while Parvati stood behind her meticulously arranging her flaming red hair.

"Don't knock it till you've tried it," Lavender quipped with an evil smile while she rummaged through her wardrobe and tossed likely outfits onto the bed.

"Shush, we're coming up to the good part," Parvati waved a free hand and looked at Hermione expectantly.

Hermione cleared her throat. "Katharine drew her wand and pointed it at his chest. 'A Blackmoor killed my father. You will have no part of me or my family's land,' she howled. Rowan reached up and took hold of his flowing white tunic and ripped it open to reveal his heavily muscled torso. Her skin tingled as he took her hand and placed the tip of her wand to his chest. 'Then strike, and destroy the heart you have already taken,' he whispered, his dark eyes blazing. Her hands trembling, she dropped her wand and collapsed. Rowan kneeled down beside her and lifted her chin. Bending down, he kissed her passionately, pressing her onto the soft grass. 'I will kill you,' Katharine growled in his ear. 'Just not now' and she began to slowly unlace her gown."

Hermione paused, looking up. "This part always confuses me. She was ready to kill his whole family, and now she's going to snog him?"

"Hermione, come on, this is the best scene in the book," Lavender squealed, sitting on the edge of her bed.

"Yeah, we have to be sure to give little Ginny some ideas for tonight." Parvati giggled, drawing Ginny's hair up into an elegant knot, letting a few curls fall in a alluring way.

"Little Ginny has plenty of ideas of her own, thank you," Ginny grinned, glancing up at Parvati in the mirror.

Actually, she didn't really, but didn't want to admit it. She let her mind wander as Hermione read on about Katharine and Rowan's lovemaking. She knew better than to think it could really be like that. Boiling desire and endless ecstasy were fine for romance characters, but she lived in a real world with real people. This was something she had to do. If she enjoyed it, that was great, but she was no princess and Harry was her boyfriend, not some mage-knight on a war griffin. Besides, who needed that kind of pressure during their first time?

"All done," Parvati proclaimed, rousing Ginny from her thoughts. "I went for an elegant seductiveness. Not too much makeup and your hair pulled back, but with enough free locks to be alluring. Also, when you remove the clip holding it in place it will fall into a sort of wild temptress look that should frame your face nicely."

Ginny looked into the mirror and couldn't believe what she was seeing. She looked older and more beautiful than she ever dreamed possible. It was as if Katharine of Scarlet Hall were looking back at her.

"I think I'm about done too," Lavender said in a thoughtful way. "I've picked out these three for you." Ginny got up to look at the outfits laid out on the bed. "I went with colors and cuts that would highlight your figure."

The first one was a tight fitting full length gown which was slit almost to the waist. It was made of emerald green satin with a dragon pattern accent embroidered in black along one side. The next was a shimmering gold dress that left her back and midriff bare. It seemed very light and flowed with the slightest breeze. The third was a very small black teddy of silk and lace that left almost nothing to the imagination. Over it went a see through black robe, which did nothing to preserve one's modesty.

"Oh Lavender, they're all so beautiful. I wish I could wear them all," Ginny gasped.

"Well, that's kind of what we had in mind," Lavender said with a smile.

"What do you mean?" Ginny asked, puzzled.

"The quick change spell," Hermione smiled. "It will allow you to instantly change from one outfit to the next."

"But I don't know that one," Ginny said, still amazed.

"Well the dressing incantation is a bit complicated, but I'm here to help you with that. The switching part is just a command word," Hermione explained.

"What's the word?" Ginny got up to face the bed.

"Couturies." Hermione formed the word carefully.

"Couturies," Ginny repeated.

Hermione removed her wand and moved next to her. "First I need to cast a spell on you before you put on anything. Then you'll need to change into the last outfit you'll be wearing. I cast the next part of the spell, then the second to last for the next part, and so on." Hermione said in the same dry tone she used whenever she spoke in the classroom about magic. "When you speak the command whatever outfit you are wearing will disappear and the next one will take its place."

"What if I use the command and there are no more clothes in line?" Lavender and Parvati giggled at this question.

"Well then nothing _is_ the next thing in line." Hermione stammered a little. She didn't think magic should be used in such a frivolous way.

Looking out the window they could the sun was beginning to go down. "OK, we should get started it's getting late," Hermione said.

"Yea," Ginny mumbled "So I've heard."

ooo

Next: Part 6. A Beginner's Guide to Seduction

Thanks to everyone who's reviewed. I'm glad you're enjoying the story so far. I'm still working on Chapter Six, so it will take a bit longer than the others to get posted. Please be patient, and I'm sure it will be worth the wait. :)


	6. A Beginner's Guide To Seduction

Part 6. A Beginner's Guide to Seduction

With a cloak over her gown, Ginny quietly walked to the fourth floor and slipped behind the mirror without being noticed. When she opened the door to the Uncommon Room she was amazed by what she saw. "Oh, Dobby," she whispered in admiration.

The room had been meticulously cleaned and little fairy lights bounced around the high ceiling, giving it an unearthly quality. A vase with beautiful roses sat on the mantelpiece and soft romantic music came from the phonograph. The dining table was covered with white linen and set with fine china. The enticing aroma of fine food floated from under covered silver trays on the table. Ginny saw the large bottle of Champagne Dobby had promised, displayed in a silver high hat and covered with ice. A giddy feeling overcame her, and she laughed as she danced, spinning around the room. Halfway into the room she paused to throw her cloak onto one of the armchairs.

It was then that she noticed it at the end of the room. The large four poster bed was identical to the one she had been sleeping in for six years, but this one seemed different somehow. It wasn't the black satin sheets, although they were striking, that made her feel uncomfortable. No, it seemed to be leering at her, as if it knew what she had in mind. It seemed to know she was lying to Harry, and that she was using her body as bait in a giant deception. She straightened the black sheets unnecessarily and felt the softness of the satin. For some reason this caused a sudden surge of panic in her. "I'll fix you," she said aloud and pulled closed the curtains around the bed.

Composing herself, she sat in one of the armchairs by the fire._ "Talking to furniture. Not the best way to start the evening,"_ Ginny thought.

She had just composed herself when two soft knocks came at the door. Terror seized her once again and it was with great difficulty she managed to say, "Come in, Harry." Breathless from tension, her voice sounded much deeper than normal. She heard the door click just as her eyes fell on the flowers over the mantle. Leaping out of her chair, she snatched one of the roses and flopped back into the armchair just as the door opened.

Harry adjusted the cravat and straightened the loose sleeves and ruffled cuffs of his white shirt. Checking to make sure his hair was as straight as possible, he pulled on his best dress cloak. Harry took the rose Ginny sent with his invitation and pulled it through his lapel, then studied the effect in the mirror.

He had left Dean, Seamus and Neville in the Room of Requirement to continue their dueling practice. They fought quite well despite what they thought of their skills. Ron slipped out an hour or so earlier when Hermione had turned up, but Harry stayed as long as he could, giving tips and sparring with them. He felt a little guilty leaving them to practice on their own when they were trying to become Aurors, but he'd earned a free night. Spending time alone with Ginny is what he needed to relax and put his world back into perspective. He slipped the small black box Remus Lupin had sent him into the pocket of his robe and headed to the fourth floor.

Harry was so happy that he smiled all the way to the mirror before touching the three stones in the frame and moving inside. Walking up to the door, he took a deep breath before knocking twice. "Come in, Harry," came a surprisingly deep and sultry voice. He slowly opened the door and was struck dumb by what he saw.

Seated in one of the armchairs by the fire, Ginny looked like a vision out of a legend. Everything from her flame red hair, perfectly arranged, to her shapely body, tightly wrapped in green satin, dazzled him. "Thank you for coming," she said, as she held a rose. She slowly caressed her cheek with the bright red bloom before bringing it to her nose. She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. "I've been looking forward to this for a long time."

"Um, hi Ginny," Harry said after a moment's pause. Collecting himself, he realized that he was about to be outdone. _"So she wants to play, does she," _he thought. He fixed her with his best sly smile and with one hand grasped the clasp of his cloak, while with the other he drew his wand. With a swift motion, he flung his cloak off his shoulders and sent it flying through the air toward the empty armchair where Ginny's already lay. At the same time he muttered a spell Sirius had taught him. From within his cloak a swarm of multicolored butterflies appeared. They flew around the room before returning to his hands, and turning into a bunch of red carnations. "For you, my beautiful lady," he bowed slightly.

Ginny felt her insides melt, but kept it from showing except that her eyes widened for a second. She ascended from the armchair as gracefully as she could, keeping her eyes fixed on Harry's. With a casual flick of her wrist, she tossed the rose onto her dinner plate and strode up to him. Taking the flowers, she reached up and gently kissed him. "I suppose that means you did well on your transfiguration test?" She smiled as if she hadn't been impressed with his spell at all.

Harry chuckled, "I guess we'll find out in a couple of weeks," he said casually. Ginny went suddenly rigid and the blood drained from her face. She couldn't keep herself from imagining him using transfiguration spells to fight for his life. Harry looked at her in a confused way before adding, "When I get my test results, and go on to Auror training"

"Yes, of course," Ginny breathed quickly in a light manner. "It must be nice to know what you are going to be doing after school."

"It will have its problems," he responded in an offhand way. All this talk about the future was starting to make him uncomfortable. He wasn't really ready for this conversation yet. "Ever since Mr. Weasley put Mad-Eye in charge of Avalon, the training has been difficult."

"I don't think anyone who's seen what you've done this past year thinks you can't handle Avalon," Ginny said looking away._ "Why are you talking about Auror training now?"_ she mentally chastised herself.

He gently brushed a lock of red hair away from her face and raised her chin so that he could look into her eyes. "Maybe, but I'm not looking forward to spending eight weeks away either."

"I'll miss you," she whispered softly. "I'll miss you even more when I have to finish my last year at school. While you go off and …" she stopped suddenly trying to find a safe way to finish her sentence.

"Maybe I can visit you in Hogsmeade," he said, saving her the trouble of completing her thought. "I should be seeing a lot of Professor Dumbledore, so I'll be around." He smiled in that reassuring way that always made her feel safe and happy. She felt her fear ebb away and smiled back.

"Are you hungry?" she asked, stepping toward the dining table.

"Starving," he responded turning toward the table. "What do we have?"

"I'm not sure, Dobby picked the meal," she responded as Harry pulled out a chair for her. As he crossed to the other side of the table Ginny flicked her wand in the direction of the phonograph. It immediately switched records and began playing a string quartet.

"Apricot glazed pork chops, mixed greens, and mashed potatoes with garlic and chives," Harry said, as he lifted the lids off the plates one at a time. "Shall I open the Champagne?" he asked in his most debonair voice.

"That would be lovely," Ginny answered. A giddy feeling filled her now as she let the atmosphere of the evening wash over her.

Harry picked up the Champagne and, giving her his best dashing smile, began fiddling with the cork. _"I look so good doing this you'd think I knew what I was …" _

Pop!

The cork flew out of Harry's hand and across the room. It struck the phonograph which skipped for a moment, then started a new song. Harry stood frozen for a second with foam covering his hands as Ginny hid her mouth in her napkin and shook with silent laughter. Raising his eyebrows in an innocent manner, he proceeded to pour the Champagne as if that was what he wanted to have happen.

"What shall we drink to?" he asked, picking up his glass. "The futu ..."

"Joy," Ginny cut him off "The joy of the moment." This seemed more than a little odd to Harry, but he simply smiled and raised his glass.

Ginny's first taste of Champagne was thrilling and she quickly decided that it was one of the best sensations she had ever had. The happiness she was trying to feel began to slowly creep back into her as she watched Harry. He went on about how good the food was and how the room looked as he helped himself to the pork chops, but Ginny couldn't say she was really listening. She was just watching him, trying to burn every detail in her memory. The way his untamed hair fell around his brilliant emerald eyes. His affectionate smile, which seemed to come so easily to him. Most of all, the intangible sense of grace and power he radiated, even when he was gobbling down mashed potatoes like a starving man.

"Is everything alright?"

Ginny snapped out of her reverie. "What?"

"You're not eating," Harry observed, starting on his second pork chop.

Her eyes glowed over her glass as she took another sip of Champagne. "I was just admiring the view," she purred. Harry swallowed hard and tried not to blush.

The meal ended and Harry pulled the cover off the dessert plate. A mountain of chocolate burst into flame as soon as the cover was off. "Hmm, flaming chocolate cake," Harry observed with a smile, stepping back from the plate. "That is, I _think_ it's supposed to be flaming," He waved the cover at the fiery confection that was now erupting hot fudge. Ginny shrugged her shoulders and laughed as their dessert put on a show of its own, finally extinguishing itself and emitting a heart shaped puff of smoke.

He dramatically poked the cake with a spoon, raising an eyebrow when he looked at her.

"I think it's dead," she giggled. He pulled out a spoonful and gently fed it to her. The delicious cake melted in her mouth and she closed her eyes reveling in the sensation.

"That looks good, do you mind if I try some?" he asked, moving toward her.

"Please do." Her eyes were still closed as he gently cupped her cheek, then covered her mouth with a deep passionate kiss. The taste of Harry mixed with chocolate made Ginny coo with happiness.

"Good cake, don't you think," she whispered finally.

"What cake?" he grinned, giving her another kiss.

It took quite a while to finish dessert that way, as they took turns taking a mouthful of cake and following it with a deep kiss. Eventually they finished, and Harry slowly wiped the last bits of chocolate from her face.

"How about some exercise after a meal like that." Ginny suggested, flicking her wand in the direction of the phonograph. The records changed themselves and a waltz began to play. Stepping to center of the room, Ginny whirled around and muttered "Couturies." Her gown instantly changed to a gold dress which glistened and fluttered as she moved.

Harry just stared at her as she moved gracefully toward him. Not only was that a neat bit of magic, but this new dress revealed a whole new layer of beauty. When she took his hand he remembered he was supposed to participate in this dance. "I'm not much of a dancer," he stammered as she led him to the center of the room.

"So I've heard." She smiled at the expression on his face. "But I also know you're a quick study when you want to be." She took hold of his right hand and placed the other on her waist. Harry's heartbeat quickened slightly as this was not a part of her body the dress covered. Taking a deep breath, he began to dance. Slowly at first, with Ginny helping him keep the count right, but gradually building up speed. By the fifth dance, Harry and Ginny were laughing as he led her faster and faster around the room. Ginny let a wave of serenity engulf her as the rest of the room seemed to dissolve around them and she felt herself, for once, the center of his world.

Harry had to admit that despite the unfamiliar manner of dancing, he was having the best time he could remember. When the music finally ended he spun her around, before releasing her and bowing a deep bow. Ginny twirled in place for a moment, let her dress fly in all directions, then collapsed into an empty armchair.

Breathing hard, Harry smiled as he stared down at a laughing Ginny. How could he have missed that the most wonderful girl in the world had been in his own house for all those years? Taking out his wand, he waved it first at the phonograph which switched records to a slow jazz song, then to the torches and candles, all of which went out. Extending his hand he slowly walked to Ginny.

Watching his green eyes sparkle in the firelight, she reached into her hair and pulled out the clips holding it in place, letting it fall to her shoulders. Feeling all her inhibitions fall away too, she stood up and took his hand, enfolding herself in his arms. Swaying gently Ginny learned everything she could about how their bodies moved together.

Breathing in the sweetness of her hair, Harry felt light headed. Their lips met and it was clear to him that whatever else happened, this was where he was supposed to be. Contentment filled him as they continued to turn in circles, drinking each other in.

Floating around the room in Harry's arms, Ginny couldn't stand to let her lips leave his, but she had to. This was as far as they had ever gone before, but tonight would be different. Because he would never presume to make the next move, she did it for him. Taking her hands from his back, she reached up to his cravat and tugged it loose. Harry stopped swaying and there was a hint of surprise in his eyes as she pulled it from around his neck. Grinning in that mischievous Weasley way, she stepped back from him and whispered, "Couturies."

It took a great deal of restraint not to laugh at the expression on his face as her gold dress dissolved into black lace and silk. She paused for a moment, letting him get a good look at her body and the teddy that barely covered it. With catlike moves, she shifted toward him and pressed herself against his muscular body. "Ginny ...," he started to say, but she silenced him with another passionate kiss. Removing her lips from his, she let her mouth drift down to his neck, causing a moan of longing to erupt from somewhere deep inside of him. Feeling a thrill of triumph, Ginny continued her assault on his senses, finally finding the first button on his shirt with her teeth. Grinning even wider, she savagely ripped the button free and let it fall to the ground. She moved on to the rest of them until she was able to push his shirt off his shoulders. Admiring her handiwork, she let her hands drift slowly across his shoulders and down the hard muscles of his torso. Slowly she began tracing a line of kisses across his chest to his stomach, which quivered as he gasped. While he was distracted, she unbuckled his belt carefully, then tugged it free. Ginny slowly stood up and gave him one last kiss, before stepping away.

Letting her transparent robe slip off her, she drifted away from him toward the bed. Pausing to give Harry a mischievous smile, she stood at the gap between the bed curtains, then disappeared behind them.

It took more than a moment before Harry remembered that he had the capacity of independent movement. He had just had the single most erotic experience of his life and it left him both shaken and charged. Partly to relive his dry mouth and partly to calm himself, Harry finished his glass of Champagne. Blood thundering in his ears, he discarded his shoes, socks, and trousers, then followed Ginny to the bed.

Ginny lay back on the soft black satin sheets, her heart trying to beat its way out of her chest. She had put everything on the line with her actions and she was a little afraid Harry might just walk out after her wanton behavior. Somehow she didn't think so, but it would be a fine thing if she lost him because of her own inexperience with seduction. Thoughts of the reasons behind this were trying to resurface, but she pushed them aside and smiled as she heard movement from the curtains.

With a violence that made her jump, the bed curtains were flung apart, revealing a muscular figure, silhouetted in the fire light. Ginny gasped in spite of herself at the sight of him. There was an expression of desire on his face she had never seen before. Part of her was a little afraid of this craving she had awoken in him and part of her couldn't wait to see where this would carry her. Underneath all of these feelings a dark mist of despair began to slip into the cracks of her mind. She tried to blow away the doubts and forced herself to concentrate on the here and now. As Harry climbed into the bed, Ginny held out her hand to him and was surprised to feel him trembling slightly.

Kneeling on the mattress they faced each other, not touching but only inches apart, feeling the energy flow between them. At exactly the same moment they broke into each other's space and pressed their bodies together as they kissed passionately. The thin silk didn't hide the feel of Ginny's body as Harry's hands traveled down her back. Looking into his eyes for a moment, she kissed him and let her hands push the fabric down off his hips. Laying back onto the pillows, she took a moment to simply gaze at him. Again, she wanted to burn every detail of this moment in her memory forever. Reaching up to him she whispered "Couturies," and felt the last remnant of her old life melt away.

"_This is it, my one night of passion with the only one I will ever love."_ The thought just seemed to come from nowhere and it killed any joy she was feeling and made her blood run cold. With great effort, she kept this from showing as Harry bent down to kiss her. Defiantly she grabbed his hair and pulled him down onto her. His kisses had an urgency to them unlike any she had known before, but that only reminded her of how desperate their lives were. Sadness and fear were openly flowing through her now.

Desperate to divert her mind from her grief, she concentrated on what they were doing. She ran her hands across his back, feeling the hard muscles move beneath his bare skin. Her hand brushed across a scar below his shoulder blade; another souvenir of his world lived so close to death. Her mind flashed back to the exploding house and she shuddered. _"No, don't think about that now!"_ She gently guided Harry's touch, careful not to make a sound that would alert him to the turmoil going on inside of her.

He shivered with passion as his kisses gently explored her body. She felt better realizing the pleasure she must be giving him. "Oh Ginny, my world had become so dark until I found you," he gasped, looking up into her eyes. "All I know of tenderness and love I've learned from you. I will always be yours."

Hearing his words of devotion, she began to break down, she couldn't help it. She truly loved him and with this act she was admitting to herself that she was going to lose him forever. Like an avalanche beginning to burst free, first one, then another tear leaked from her eyes. She clenched her teeth in an attempt to control herself, but it was no use. Suddenly she began to weep in earnest. Her hand flew to cover her mouth and her stomach began to spasm as she sobbed.

"Ginny!" Harry stammered, looking up. "What's wrong, what happened?" Frantically, he scrambled to get off of her, only to have her grab him and pull his body close in a desperate embrace.

"I can't," she choked into his soft black hair "I can't lose you, I can't do it alone. I know it's my duty, but it's too hard, I wouldn't know what to do without you."

"Ginny, what…" Harry stammered.

She curled into a weeping ball, and he kneeled next to her, holding her in his arms.

"Maybe if I had never met you before I could, since it is so important, but I do love you, I've always loved you, and if you're going to die, then I want to die too." She dissolved into sobs, rocking back and forth in his embrace.

Feeling completely bewildered and sick with guilt that he had upset her so, Harry let her cry and held her head into his chest. "It's all right," he whispered into her hair "I'm here. I'm here for you."

It was a long time before Ginny could stop crying. Finally she wiped her eyes and said in a despondent voice, "I suppose you think I'm barking mad now?"

Harry smiled a little and lifted her head until he could look into her eyes and said "I just want to know what's the matter, and what I can do to help."

"There's nothing you can do to help," she said, looking away from him. "I just couldn't control my feelings, and now I've ruined everything."

Harry remained silent for a few minutes. "Do you remember what you said the night we saved Mr. Creevey?" he breathed at last. "You said that I shouldn't harden myself. The same goes for you, Ginny. Believe me, I know _all about_ trying to take responsibility for everything. Whatever is bothering you, I can help."

Ginny bit her lower lip, but didn't reply.

"This has something to do with your meeting with Snape, doesn't it?" he said, placing his hands on her shoulders. "Please tell me."

Ginny stood up and sighed in resignation "Snape told me how dangerous it had become with Riddle at full power, and you leaving school. After what happened in the village the other day I can see that he is right." She walked toward the fireplace and buried her face in her hands. "That's why I arranged all of this, so we could …you know, get together."

"You mean we should make love tonight because we might not get another chance." His voice trailed off.

She nodded, moving her hand to her bare stomach. "And I do love you, but I'm not ready to be a …." She closed her mouth quickly and turned away, afraid she may have said too much.

Harry's eyebrows knit together for just a moment as his keen mind fit all the pieces together. "This is about Snape's mad idea to get me to have a child."

"You know about that?" she gasped, turning to him.

"He's a dead man!" Harry roared. "I know I've said it before, but this time he's gone too far." His wand flew from the pile of clothes on the floor into his hand as he moved toward the door. "Trying to push you into something so ..."

"Harry, stop it!" Ginny said in a stern voice as she stepped in front of him. "This was what I wanted and it's my mistake. I won't have you blaming Snape for what I've done."

Harry raised his eyebrows at the sudden outburst from her but then he smiled. "For your sake, I'll drop it," he said, putting his wand on the fireside table.

Ginny looked at him standing there naked in the firelight and became even more frustrated with herself. "I'm sorry I brought you here under false pretenses, and for nothing at that." Feeling the need to cover herself, she moved over to the armchair to get her cloak.

He caught her hand before she could reach it. "Wait," he said as he wrapped his arms around her from behind. "You weren't the only one to come here with an agenda," he whispered into her ear. "And it doesn't have to be for nothing."

He kissed the back of her neck and held her as he rocked gently back and forth. Ginny laid her head back onto his shoulder feeling his bare body next to hers and listened to him hum softly to her. It was by far the best she felt since her talk with Snape "Um .. Harry," she gasped, her throat dry. "I, uh, … used the fertility charm, before. I don't think we can umm …"

"That's all right, I've got something else in mind." He moved her around the armchair and sat her down. "You see, I've been thinking about the future too." He reached into the pocket of the robe laying on the other chair and pulled out a small black box. Ginny's heart skipped a beat as he bent down on one knee before her. "I know it is a lot to ask with everything going on, but I really don't think that I can go on without you. It's like I can only face the things I need to face because of you." He opened the box. A single blue white diamond in a gold setting glinted in the fire light. Miniscule runes surrounded the stone and ran down the band. "Would you please consider marrying me?"

Ginny didn't dare move. If she moved, this perfect moment might disappear. She could only stare at the figure silhouetted in the fire offering her the most beautiful thing in the world. From somewhere in her mind a little voice registered what was happening. _"Harry wants to marry me!" _Tearing her gaze away from the ring, she looked into his green eyes. Without uttering a sound, Ginny leapt out of the chair to kiss him.

Harry tumbled back onto the rug in front of the fire with Ginny on top of him. As her body pressed down on him, Ginny didn't let go but continued to kiss him more deeply than he ever dreamed possible. Harry couldn't really breathe, but he didn't care. Her passionate assault on him showed no sign of waning, but was in fact growing in intensity. He closed his eyes and ran his hands over her perfect body, prepared to give himself over to the moment. Suddenly that little corner of Harry's mind that always remained at battle ready shouted in his consciousness. _"Fertility charm!" _

With great difficulty, he managed to pull her mouth away from his long enough to say, "Ginny, we can't tonight. You still have that spell on you."

Ginny gazed at him for a moment, breathing hard. "I don't think I care," she gasped and made a sudden move to continue her attempts to devour him.

"I care," he gasped, catching her just in time. "We have a lot of preparations to make before we're ready to take responsibility for someone else."

She rolled off of him and lay back onto the rug, banging her head on the floor repeatedly mumbling "It's not fair, it's not fair."

"Tell me about it," Harry groaned with a half smile. "But at least you get a consolation prize." He retrieved the ring from where it had fallen next to a discarded button. "If you want it?"

Ginny smiled broadly. "Yes, I do," she cooed, letting him place the ring on her finger.

"And I think I have some ideas of other things you might find intriguing," Harry said slyly, getting up on his elbow.

She tore her eyes away from her ring to look him with mild apprehension. "What do you have in mind?" she whispered.

His eyes glowed with passion. "Do you trust me?"

Ginny laid back and allowed herself to completely relax for the first time in months. "Now and forever." She gazed up and saw only him.

Ron woke up suddenly and looked around in the dim light of his dorm room. From the window he could tell that it would be dawn soon and he wondered what had awakened him. He glanced around and the only thing he found out of place was Harry's empty bed. _"It's nearly dawn and Harry's bed is empty?" _he thought.

A moment later he realized what had roused him as Crookshanks rubbed against his side. The cat jumped off his bed, walked halfway to the door and looked back at him expectantly. He quietly slipped out of bed and into the hallway.

Huddled in the shadows, a figure Ron knew quite well waved for him to come over. Grinning broadly, he closed the distance between them in just a few strides. Reaching out to kiss Hermione, Ron started to whisper, "Good morning," when she cupped her hand over his mouth and turned him toward the Common Room. Two shadows danced unsteadily in front of the fire.

"It's a good thing you remembered to bring that cloak or you might have been stuck in the Uncommon Room for who knows how long," Harry's voice sounded, as he spun Ginny around, revealing bare legs under her cloak.

With her hand over Ron's mouth Hermione could feel his jaw drop.

"You would have lent me your coat, wouldn't you?" Ginny said, landing not too gracefully in the couch.

"No, not so much," he smiled, sitting down next to her, his buttonless shirt falling open. "But I'd be back to visit you. _A lot._"

"Rat," she giggled, swatting him with a cushion as he lowered his face to hers. "All. You. Men. Are. Rats," she intoned, hitting him with each word as he started to kiss her.

Ron had heard enough. He started to move forward when Hermione grabbed his shoulder and cleared her throat in a dignified manner.

Both Ginny and Harry began to giggle at the shocked expression on Ron's face. "Heartless rogue, my kinsmen shall avenge this impertinent gesture," Ginny said, causing Hermione to start chuckling too.

As he was the only one not laughing, Ron felt himself deflate a little. "So, I guess you two had a good time then."

"Yes, it was a wonderful evening," Harry responded, hugging Ginny.

"So, everything went as planned?" Hermione asked, feeling an almost Lavender-like curiosity.

"I'm afraid not." Ginny smiled as Hermione raised an eyebrow "You see, Harry is just too noble to be seduced."

"I am not too noble," Harry protested.

Ginny shook her finger at him. "Yes you are, noble and valiant."

"I am not."

"Yes you are, we took a vote," Ginny declared.

Harry tilted his head slightly. "Who took a vote?"

"We," insisted Ginny.

"What have you two been drinking?" Ron grunted, unwilling to let his disapproval evaporate completely.

"Oh, Champagne," Ginny replied. "When we were leaving we thought it might be rude not to finish the Champagne Dobby got for us."

"What, 'we'" Harry persisted.

"Me, myself, and I," she smiled. "I'm afraid you're outnumbered, my love."

"It must have been good stuff," Ron interrupted, starting to see the comedy in the situation. "Next time you should save some for us."

"Oh, you'll get some next year when you do your toast," Harry replied slyly.

"What toast?" Ron replied, his confusion evident.

"A toast," Harry said, "You know, it's what a best man does at a wedding."

This time it was Hermione's jaw that dropped.

"What wedding?" Ron asked.

Ginny held out her hand and showed them the gold ring with the single diamond set in it.

Hermione's hands flew to her mouth and she stifled a squeal, but Ron still looked perplexed.

"What… whose ring is that?" Ron stammered, still flustered.

"My mum's, well, it's Ginny's now," Harry beamed.

Hermione jumped at Ginny and threw her arms around her. "Oh Ginny, that's brilliant, congratulations."

"Married! You two are getting married?" Ron stammered.

Hermione moved to Harry and hugged him too. "When is it? How did you get the ring? Does anyone else know?" she gasped all at once.

"Wow, this is… amazing," Ron said absent mindedly as he shook Harry's hand.

"We were thinking of having it next year, after I finish at Hogwarts," Ginny said, hugging a still dazed Ron.

"And I had Remus Lupin send the ring it to me," Harry added. "Its been in my family's vault at Gringotts since my mum died." 

"Your mother's ring? Is it a family heirloom or something?" Ron asked, looking at the ring on Ginny's finger.

"Yeah, sort of. My dad got it from his mother, and gave it to mum. It might go back further, I'm not sure." Harry said, smiling at Ginny, who beamed back at him and admired her ring again. She hadn't known that.

"As for who else knows, we just sent Hedwig with the news to your Mum and Dad." Harry said to Ron.

"We should hear her scream some time tomorrow," Ron smiled.

"Other than that, no one," Harry continued. "And we are going to try to keep it that way."

Harry and Ginny's plan to keep their engagement a secret lasted about fifteen minutes into the next day's lunch, which for them was breakfast. Ginny just couldn't help it. The happiness inside of her was so great she felt as if she would burst if she didn't tell someone.

The look on Lavender and Parvati's faces when she showed them her ring made the confession worthwhile. The blood curdling scream they let out took some of the gaiety out of the situation for Harry. Everyone in the hall turned to look as the two girls bounced around Ginny, chanting, "Ginny's getting married."

Ron and Hermione accompanied Harry and Ginny up to the staff table so that Ginny could show Professor McGonagall the ring and tell her about their plans. Wedding announcements from seventh years were not unheard of, but she seemed particularly pleased to hear the news from these two. "Harry, I know your parents would be delighted for you," she said.

"Hear, hear," Professor Flitwick's happy voice chimed in. He was smiling broadly like everyone at the staff table, except Professor Snape. Ginny felt her happiness slip a gear until she saw Professor Dumbledore. He beamed at them in silence, but didn't seem particularly surprised by the news.

"And Miss Weasley, don't forget that you have another year of study ahead of you and I expect top marks no matter what your plans," Professor McGonagall continued sternly before smiling. "I am very happy for you both."

"And do you two have any announcements to make?" Professor Flitwick asked, turning to Ron and Hermione.

"_No_!" they cried simultaneously, then turned to glare at each other in a 'what's wrong with marrying me' way. They began muttering to each other as they returned from the staff table.

Harry and Ginny remained, talking at the staff table for a few minutes more before returning as well. When they did, almost every girl in the school came over to the Gryffindor table to see the ring and hear a slightly fictionalized account of how Harry proposed.

Everyone wanted to shake Harry's hand and give Ginny a hug, but somehow they weren't separated. Whenever someone would say or do something silly or embarrassing, all they would have to do is exchange looks and instantly formed a consensus on how to react to that person.

Deep down Ginny knew that Harry wouldn't like being the center of attention like this, but he resisted any attempt she made to shorten the impromptu celebration insisting that she bask in the glory that was being showered on her.

During this excitement Ron nudged Harry and whispered "Malfoy" in his ear.

Harry eyes narrowed. He had noticed the Slytherin's reactions too. Some were edging over to see if the ring was real. Pansy had gotten up and stormed out of the Great Hall. Malfoy glowered at him in a menacing way, but was still deep in whispered conversation with Crabbe and Goyle. He expected the vicious looks in his direction, but now Malfoy's calculated hostility was directed at Ginny too. "It should be all right," Harry whispered back to Ron. "The Burrow is one of the most heavily defended homes in Britain now, and then she's coming back here," he said, as much to himself as to Ron. "I don't think Ginny's in any more danger this way than if our engagement were a secret."

"Harry," Ron hissed with more than a little exasperation in his voice. "Ginny isn't the only one in danger," he gave him a penetrating look. "You can't look out for everyone else and sacrifice yourself anymore. The engagement changes that."

"Don't worry Ron," Harry smiled back. "I know, I'll be careful."

Pansy sat motionless next to Draco and watched Potter and the Weasley girl parade up to the staff table. _"He asked her to marry him?"_

She sat and thought for a while as they paid their respects to the staff, but the move didn't make any sense to her. There weren't any long or short term advantages to this, and it would make his life infinitely more complicated and hazardous. The two of them returned to the Gryffindor table and were instantly set upon by the other students. None of the giggling morons that were surrounding him had any idea of how much more danger he was putting himself in. Potter placed his arm around the Weasley girl as the annoying mass grew.

"_He did it just because he loves her," _she realized with amazement, and Pansy felt a strange hollow space opening inside of her.

She had always considered Potter basically in the same mold as Draco except that he served Dumbledore instead of the Dark Lord. Would Draco do something like this? Would he marry her?

"_Yes, he would,"_ she reassured herself. All she would have to do is make sure the advantages outweighed the dangers and she could be Mrs. Draco Malfoy before the Little Miss Weasley finished her first term.

"_But that's not the same," _a part of her insisted_ "Would he put himself in more danger just because he loved me?"_ She looked over at Draco deep in quiet conversation with Crabbe and Goyle. He was coldly trying to work out how best to use this new turn of events in his schemes.

"_Does he love me?"_

It began deep inside of her, a despair and loss of control that overwhelmed her. She hadn't felt like this in over seven years. _"No! It doesn't matter,"_ came the response from the more calculating part of her mind. The corner of her eyes tingled and her lower jaw began to tremble. _"No, stop it,"_ she chastised herself. Panic stricken, she rose from her chair and quickly left the Great Hall.

Ducking out the front door, she hid behind some trees next to the castle. "Why should I care if Draco loves me?" she whispered in an effort to master herself. "He's just the best there is. We… we just use each other when it suits us, that's all."

But her body wouldn't let her lie to herself. Tears streamed down her face as she broke the promise she made to herself never to cry again. Her knees gave way and she fell to ground sobbing. _"Oh, God. I do love him,"_ she realized looking into one of the large windows of the Great Hall. Crabbe and Goyle had gone and Draco surveyed the Hall calmly. Cold gray eyes, half hidden by blond locks majestically took in everything around him.

Then he leaned back and placed his arm around the chair she had been sitting in just a moment before. If she were still there, he would be holding her right now.

"_He does love me,"_ she told herself and slowly her crying stopped. _"Maybe, he doesn't know it yet, but he does love me!"_ Breathing hard and wiping her eyes she finally managed to pull herself together. _"I just need to give him some time and he'll realize that he does loves me. Then. Then, we'll be happy."_

Ginny hesitated in front of the dungeon door before knocking. It had taken quite a while for things to quiet down enough for her to slip away without being noticed by her fellow Gryffindors or her _fiancé_. Ginny smiled as she thought of the word, when suddenly the door swung open. Snape filled the doorway, casting a grim shadow into the hall. He looked at her a moment before returning to his desk, leaving the door open for her.

"I suppose congratulations are in order," he intoned coldly. "I might have known that Potter couldn't resist the chance to take the high road once he learned he would be a father."

"Professor," Ginny started to say.

"It will put you in considerably more danger," he continued. "I suppose he never thought of that."

"Professor we… we didn't," she stammered. Snape just stared at her wordlessly for a few minutes until she added, "I just couldn't let fear overpower hope."

He sighed deeply and looked at his desk. "Very well, if this is your decision, I accept it," he breathed in a defeated voice.

"We will have a child one day, I hope" she added, feeling as if she had let him down. "Just not yet." He nodded to indicate that he understood. "Well anyway, I wanted to give this back to you." She took out the black stone ring Snape had presented to her the week before and laid it on his desk "Oh, and I wound up with this too." She placed the handkerchief she'd used to wipe her eyes next to the ring.

Snape stared not at the ring, but at the handkerchief as Ginny got up to leave. "Miss Weasley," he said, standing and reaching for the ring. "Once before I tried to give this ring to someone only to have them turn it down." Snape circled his desk and stood before her. "If she hadn't given it up, things would have been very different." He placed the ring back in her hand. "I don't think I am willing to let that happen again."

She looked up at him with a mixture of unease and confusion.

"Consider it a wedding present." he said, as she looked down at the dark stone. "It could save your life, and the life of the child you might one day have," He placed a hand on her shoulder. "_Please_, take it."

Snape had not been so polite to anyone in years, much less a student. Shocked and bewildered, Ginny put the ring on her right hand and managed a small "Thank you, Professor," before turning and walking out the door.

Snape sighed and sat down behind his desk. He picked up the handkerchief and unfolded it, revealing a monogram that Ginny hadn't noticed. "Maybe, this time," he whispered, running his hand over the L.E. stitched into the linen. "Maybe this time it will be better."

End

18


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